For Alabama football fans, there are few experiences quite like setting foot inside Bryant-Denny Stadium for the first time. From the overwhelming display of school spirit to the sheer size of the stadium itself, it’s a moment many fans will never forget. For Lyle Richardson, that moment is more than just a memory. It’s the inspiration behind his company, Stadium Cribs.
“The first college football game I ever went to was the Alabama-Ole Miss game at Bryant-Denny Stadium in 1988 when I was 14 years old,” he said. “My life was forever changed the moment I walked into Bryant-Denny Stadium.”
Stadium Cribs, which is based out of Kansas, designs and sells pet beds modeled after NCAA football stadiums and basketball arenas across the country. The company started out designing baby bedding for cribs, but co-founders Richardson and Kevin Kruger have expanded their business to include bedding for sports fans’ furry friends.
“I got to thinking about applying the stadium concept from the baby bedding set to other products,” Richardson said.
Life-altering moments, like the one Richardson experienced, inspire fans to purchase the stadium-based bedding, he said.
“People are so passionate about their teams and their dogs that people easily fall in love with our product,” he said. “The emotions derived from experiences like this are indescribable.”
Stadium Cribs’ stadium and arena pet beds allow sports fans to “put their pet in the game,” according to their tagline, providing them an outlet to display devotion to their favorite teams.
“We are able to combine many people’s two favorite things: sports and their pets,” Kruger said. “The challenge of making this successful drives us every day to make sure it works.”
Kruger said they try to depict the defining features of each stadium and arena when modeling a pet bed.
“My favorite part is the authenticity and unique aspects of every stadium being put into each bed,” Kruger said. “Being sports fans the way Lyle [Richardson] and I are, we felt the stadiums are what make the bed unique.”
Stadium Cribs now has more than 70 NCAA pet beds available, and that number is expected to grow to 100 by the end of 2014. Each pet bed is officially licensed by the school it represents.
“We are already in the process of expanding to several other sports so we can grow as a company to all sports across the world,” Kruger said. “We are also teaming up with local shelters so that, as the company grows, we will be able to give back.”
The Alabama Football Stadium pet bed is offered online at stadiumcribs.com. The pet bed is offered in sizes small, medium and large, and the prices range from $59.99 to $79.99 depending on size. For more information or to purchase a pet bed, visit stadiumcribs.com
(See also “It’s still too hard to find seats in Bryant Denny Stadium“)
