Despite receiving accolades last season, the UA is not standing pat when it comes to the ZonaZoo.

After the ZonaZoo was reduced from about 10,000 seats to about 9,000, new promotions were added, like a contest rewarding fans who stayed until the end of a game, and the Bear Down Brigade was established. ESPN named it the best student section in the Pac-12.

There will be new promotions this year and the UA will expand on last year’s additions like the Bear Down Brigade, which is like a super fan club for people who wanted to help, said Ben Chulick, assistant athletic director for marketing for Arizona athletics.

“The ZonaZoo provides the vast majority of the atmosphere at all our events, but especially football and men’s basketball,” Chulick said. “When the ZonaZoo is there and the place is packed and they’re rocking, it just kind of sets the tone for the rest of the stadium and makes it a fun place to be.”

ZonaZoo executive director Jacob Borcover said the ZonaZoo is not ready to announce the new changes yet.

“We are working on some things but nothing is official so I can’t comment yet,” said Borcover, a marketing senior. “We are looking into making a few changes, but they are still pending approval.”

Landslide shirt victory

ZonaZoo leadership recently held an election to determine the ZonaZoo shirt for this season and it wasn’t close.

The 2014-15 shirt features “Bear Down” prominently in block letters. The other two finalists had the motto less dominant or not at all.

“I love the new shirt for the year,” Borcover said. “I was heavily involved in the process and was very satisfied to see the end result.”

The winning T-shirt was selected by Facebook likes and Twitter favorites, with the winner getting 1,186 votes and the second place design receiving 157 votes, Borcover said.

“The students overwhelmingly supported the winning design,” Borcover said. “It was a great opportunity to let our students have input in our decision making process.”

Chulick said the shirt will feature the slogan “ZonaZoo stays the entire game,” which was introduced last year.

Up in the air

While construction to McKale Center is expected to limit capacity for the McDonald’s Red-Blue Game by almost 5,000, the ZonaZoo will be taken care of.

“It is still being discussed how many seats will be made available to the Zoo,” Borcover said. “Students will still have an opportunity to attend the game.”

The Red-Blue Game will be held on Oct. 18.

First ZonaZoo deadline coming up

With the ASU football game landing on Thanksgiving weekend this year, students will need to reserve a spot unlike the other football games.

“Students can guarantee a seat if they reserve online before the end of August,” Borcover said. “After that, reservations will be subject to availability. Students can reserve using the same system for basketball reservation.”

The ASU game will be played the day after Thanksgiving at 1:30 p.m. on Fox.

—Follow James Kelley @JamesKelley520