From 2019 article
Big Blue Nation has a secession problem. Some of its most devoted citizens have bailed — at least physically — on Kentucky basketball.
Attendance is down, so much so that a renovation that will reduce Rupp Arena’s capacity by 3,000 seats moves forward without protest.
No-shows are on the rise, so much so that more than 28 percent of the tickets distributed this season have not registered on arena scans.
Pricing, parking, scheduling, seating, supply, demand, the economic theory of marginal utility, one-and-done culture and television technology were all mentioned by Kentucky fans among contributing causes for the erosion of a fan base that has ranked first or second in college basketball attendance every season since Rupp Arena opened in 1976.
Jeremy Curtis, a UK fan from western Kentucky, says his family has four upper-level season tickets, but he has not attended a game since 2011.
“At first, the excitement of being able to drive up and back for a game was worth it,” he said, “but that was soon replaced with the ease of watching every game in front of a 50+ inch TV in the comfort of our home, not to mention the cost savings of parking and food.”
This is a common refrain heard within Kentucky’s uncommonly devout fan base. Spectators accustomed to backless benches in the upper level of Rupp Arena have been leaving a larger proportion of those seats empty, often absorbing the price of a prepaid ticket while the Wildcats plow through the cupcake portion of their schedule.
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At the end of the day, few are going to pay the prices UK is asking to watching the men's basketball team play crap basketball against a no name team. Taking the big name games off the home schedule means season tickets are sales are dependent on SEC games being a draw.
The large screen argument has merit, but were tickets sales an issue between 2010 and 2015? It doesn't appear to be. There was some decline I'm sure, but the secondary market was still strong to see Cal put a team of final four talent on the floor. Its only when the revolving door of OAD players who didn't accomplish anything at UK and the rep of Cal pushing player potential over player contribution during games did lack of butts in seats started to get noticed.
It doesn't matter where your political opinions are on this, the kneeling did have an effect to some degree. Kentucky , even with this democratic governor Ky is a solidly red state. Kneeling is a divisive topic that spans across both blue and white collar. The point is, during a time when people are actively choosing to stay home, you don't give a segment of the fan base another reason. And worse, you don't decide that a segment of the fan base isn't needed because of their political leanings. You're just making the potential pool of people smaller to go to Rupp, especially those who may be inclined to go to a cupcake game for the experience because they can't afford the "big" name games. Sports used to be the one outlet where politics didn't matter. The only Red/Blue that mattered was the color of the sports team you wore to the game. Now people are telling UK fans they shouldn't go to games because of who they voted for. Its counter productive to the program, and for the team to take a position they are asking for fallout. Come support the cats but ignore them taking on a hot button political topic during a game. Just doesn't work that way.
UK has made a calculated guess on the loyalty of the UK fans base. They were wrong. Ticket prices, scheduling, the make up of the team - collectively has pushed fans away from seeing the Cats play in person, something that was unthinkable just 10 years ago. The last thing anyone needs to be doing is coming up with more reasons to make attending games less desirable.
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