I know it's been discussed a bit here and you can see it on TV but I am surprised at the drop they are seeing.
15% or 3,500 down from last year and 17.5% and nearly 4,500 from peak attendance under Cal.
I am sure this correlates directly to a few things - the lack of quality home games and the insane increase (40% I believe) in ticket prices since 2010.
https://www.seccountry.com/kentucky/kentucky-insider-big-blue-nation-suffering-one-done-fatigue
It's not the lack of quality opponents. Rupp used to sell out no matter what up until a few years ago.
The ticket prices aren't the problem either. Here's the thing, every game is now on TV, and in HiDef.
People like to drink, and you can't drink at SEC games. Parking has become expensive also.
Look, I have season tickets for both basketball and football. But, I have to admit, it's a pain in the ass to attend games anymore. Let me list the reasons.
1. The tv timeouts are way too long and brutal. It used to be that if a team called timeout before the under 16-12-8-4 tv timeout, that would take the place of the tv timeout. That's not the case anymore, and hasn't been in numerous years.
2. No beer or alcohol sales at SEC games. This is stupid and way over due to be changed. Look, people like to drink when they're watching sporting events.
3. People suck. Very few people nowadays are respectful of your space. I had some ahole last week that tried to own my seat and his. The bad thing is it wasn't even his seat.
4. The God-Awful Gangsta Rap that's played at these games makes me want to shoot somebody. Can we mix in some Eagles, and perhaps a few Zac Brown songs? Jesus Christ, are we living in East L.A.?
5. The lack of character of players has turned fans off.
6. It's just better, easier, and much cheaper to watch games at home.