Grateful Red


The Grateful Red was the name of the student section at the Kohl Center, home of the University of Wisconsin–Madison's NCAA men's basketball team. As a division of the Badger Student Fan Club, it cheers on the Badgers from behind the basket at the Kohl Center. The name is a take-off of the rock group, the Grateful Dead, and members wear tie-dyed T-shirts as their pseudo-uniforms. The Detroit News ranked the section the #1 college basketball student section in February 2007. The section was known as "Mr. Bennett's Neighborhood" for former coach Dick Bennett and debuted as the "grateful red" in 2002. In 2018, the university renamed all student sections ”AreaRED”.
The Grateful Red holds 2,100 students and extends from the floor to the roof of the Kohl Center, a span of three decks. Under former coach Bo Ryan, the men's basketball team achieved a record of 133–10 at home and held a 24-game home winning streak through the 2006-07 season.

Name Change

During the 2018 University of Wisconsin-Madison football season, athletic director Barry Alverez and Wisconsin Athletic Department officially changed the name of the student section at Wisconsin to "AreaRED". During the years prior, the Athletic Department has struggled to get the student section full before kickoff. The main goal of the name change and revamp of the student section was to increase student attendance at Wisconsin home games and build student support. AreaRED is now run by a committee of 8 student board members who work to organize events and activities for Wisconsin home games.