UK attendance down 15% from last year

[JFCats22]

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

 

[Stonewall12]

Yea
Fort Wayne does not get the blood flowing

 

[Wildcats1st]

Make no mistake the turnover in roster is also a driver behind this

 

[Montrezl the Beast]

Just blame it on nfl players kneeling...

 

[Deli owl]

Yeah the turnover on UKs roster is responsible for all the teams around the country with attendance dropping including the NFL, MLB, and other nonsense.

 

[Calsthebomb]

I think we should do a renovation similar to what tennessee did to TBA. That's a beautiful arena.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Hard to get excited for a sport that's about as rigged as the WWE.

..but at least Wrestling will flat out admit it's storylines are fabricated and predetermined..

Kentucky has almost no chance at a title. Let me clarify, that they are absolutely talented enough for the title, but the NCAA wont allow it. Through crappy officiating.. to the selection committee dropping us in seeding.. to the protection Duke will get. Just don't think this team has a chance to overcome that.

 

[shaolin style]

Been to 3 or 4 games so far this year. Student upper deck is basically empty - sit wherever you want. This is the majority of the decrease. Idk if they will pick it up when we get in conference or what...

Some other areas are spotty. Clearly a drop off in expectations this year. Turnover in roster has nothing to do with it, other than maybe a few anecdotal grumps who don't like Cal's style.

 

[theGspot]

Yeah the turnover on UKs roster is responsible for all the teams around the country with attendance dropping including the NFL, MLB, and other nonsense.

I'm sorry, but this is a fact free zone. You can't be bringing those up here.

 

[GLR5555]

StubHub is taking it in the shorts. Must suck holding on to all those unsold tix.

 

[robman181]

It's cost. It's always been cost. People just have other options on how to watch the games and things to do besides watching games. The sports bubble is bursting.

 

[TJ-Cat]

I certainly think turnover in the roster has some affect on attendance. This team doesn't have a fan favorite veteran like Patrick Patterson, Darius Miller or Josh Harrellson. Those type players are very important, both on and off the court, not to mention the connection that puts people in the stands!

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

Blame it on the al, al, al, al, alcohol..

 

[bigbluedon]

Cost is the main driver for me. Turnover of players is very frustrating and I am tired of it but i would not say that is one of my excuses for not going to a game.

 

[IndyCat1995]

If I didn't live out of state I'd be at every game

 

[UKCatnNC]

I know a student there that says it is too expensive for her to go. GO CATS!!

 

[AnarchoNeoLuddite]

So what if viewership is up? Attendance dosent mean less popular.

 

[know1]

It's really more of a hassle to go to a game than it is to watch at home and I don't see much benefit to it. I've turned down tickets to games in the past few years. I'd never do that for football. We're better in basketball by far, but football games are a lot more fun to go to.

 

[USSLair]

Make no mistake the turnover in roster is also a driver behind this

Maybe for old people that can't take the time to look up a roster or keep track of recruiting.

 

[Calsthebomb]

Roster Turnover is lame excuse. Bunch of old timers think they should stay 4 years.

 

[rick64]

Student ticket prices increased too I believe. But I agree hard to get excited about Vermont, Utah Valley St.

 

[kydmb99]

Unless you have great, lower level seats and live close to Lexington, going to a game isn't that great of an experience.

 

[Mime-Is-Money]

Games on Friday nights probably aren't helping

 

[shaolin style]

I know a student there that says it is too expensive for her to go. GO CATS!!

$5 student ticket? Or is that sarcasm ha..

 

[truebluewildcat]

Roster turnover and the seemingly never ending training wheels session that comes with that.

Also, these big time games that are happening on neutral sites. I used to think Cal was on to something with his "play on big stages early..." philosophy, and I do get that logic, however I think that MB may want to consider having some home and homes with these the big OOC programs.

Folks will pack it in for a close game vs the likes of KU, Duke, MSU, UNC, even if it means a loss. People don't give a hoot about watching a bunch of rookies fumble around with Troy, Utah Valley, and Vermont.

The first few years of the Cal/OAD phenomenon was great, but the magic and novelty has worn down. Hell, I'll trade a couple draft nights to be able to name the starters for a couple years.

Recruit 1-2 OADs and 4-6 4 star guys who are going to bust ass and put in some elbow grease for a few years.

 

[nickhorvathsuxazz]

Hard to get excited for a sport that's about as rigged as the WWE.

..but at least Wrestling will flat out admit it's storylines are fabricated and predetermined..

Kentucky has almost no chance at a title. Let me clarify, that they are absolutely talented enough for the title, but the NCAA wont allow it. Through crappy officiating.. to the selection committee dropping us in seeding.. to the protection Duke will get. Just don't think this team has a chance to overcome that.

I hate agreeing with this post, but it's spot on how I feel, too. I'm laying it at mark emmert's feet...the man has almost single-handedly ruined the one sport that I've ALWAYS loved. I detest the bastard over anyone else in college ball, including k, roy, jurich, pitino, etc. I wouldn't piss on the mf-er if he was on fire.

 

[kev69]

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.

 

[wildcatsboston1984]

$5 student ticket? Or is that sarcasm ha..

It's $10 for a student ticket now

 

[JonathanW]

There are lots of factors.
Generally cost is #1.
But also "free" time is slowly lessening.
Also quality, size, cost, & availability of TVs. Big difference from watching on a 40" SD tv, and a 60" 4K HDTV.
It's also becoming easier to watch games without paying extra for a satelite/cable basketball package.
I don't think you can consider schedule at this point. Very rarely since teams started playing in Nov, have we had more than maybe 1 major D1 team play in Rupp in Nov. In fact, if you ignore the names, and just look at the computer rankings and projected NCAA field odds, our schedule this year is tougher than most years.
Those of you in Lex can say better than me, is parking or downtown traffic worse this year?
Not knowing the players is probably somewhat of a factor.
As is probably no F4 in the past 3 years.
Maybe also the improvement of the football team (even if games don't conflict, they both take up "free time").
Possibly the times of the games, or the days of the week, or ratio of weekday to weekend games thus far?
Lack of a true superstar (or consensus fan favorite).
Perhaps after the Vegas shooting, there are some (a few) not going to large public events.

 

[AnarchoNeoLuddite]

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.?

players dont want to hear that garbage either. Eagles?geez thatd drive the players clear off the court...

 

[shaolin style]

It's $10 for a student ticket now

Not a big jump but that's pretty lame to double the cost for students, esp when tuition is increasing 9% per year or whatever. Marginal revenues for UK.

 

[Deli owl]

There's nothing better than firing up my big screen in my den where I built my bar and getting loaded on any one of my 12 different bourbons or beer. Snacks are 15 feet away with no line.

 

[wildcatsboston1984]

Only way I'd go to a Kentucky game is if I got really damn good seats. Otherwise what is the point? I can stay home and watch it on TV. I don't see the point in going to a game with shitty seats where you can't really tell what is going on.

If it weren't for the fact that I work in D3 athletics and the production quality on D3 webcasted games can be really poor relative to what we are used to on TV, I would never go to a live sporting event if I didn't have good seats.

 

[Deli owl]

Not a big jump but that's pretty lame to double the cost for students, esp when tuition is increasing 9% per year or whatever. Marginal revenues for UK.

I'm not disagreeing or agreeing but the university funds and atheleitics funds are separate. Not really a correlation there.

 

[wildcatsboston1984]

Not a big jump but that's pretty lame to double the cost for students, esp when tuition is increasing 9% per year or whatever. Marginal revenues for UK.

Agree, not a big jump at only $5. But then it makes it where it's not affordable for students to go to every game. They are going to have to pick and choose and they aren't going to be choosing against the teams we are playing now.

 

[kev69]

players dont want to hear that garbage either. Eagles?geez thatd drive the players clear off the court...

The players aren't paying the tab. People like me are.
When the the players are paying tabs, they can listen to whatever they want.
What about this don't you understand?
BTW, the Eagles are one of the greatest bands ever.

 

[shaolin style]

Agree, not a big jump at only $5. But then it makes it where it's not affordable for students to go to every game. They are going to have to pick and choose and they aren't going to be choosing against the teams we are playing now.

Yeah that jump, if it affected student attendance at all, was an incredibly poor decision.

@Deli owl - understood, but athletics gives and takes (UK gives, UL takes) from the university all the time. Just give a little less (marginal) back to the university. They're already giving back millions per year.

 

[shaolin style]

The players aren't paying the tab. People like me are.
When the the players are paying tabs, they can listen to whatever they want.
What about this don't you understand?
BTW, the Eagles are one of the greatest bands ever.

I don't think you understand the players are creating the entertainment. I want them to play whatever makes them happy/pumped etc. End of story.

You like the eagles? Listen to them on the way home after a win.

 

[doc4UK]

Most of the reasons have been mentioned so maybe 10 different reasons are valid

However the advent of HD TV and the decreasing cost of a very large TV and having every game broadcast on either SEC or ESPN is the major cause in my opinion. I have had season tickets since Rupp opened but generally give most of them away to my employees because most games are on weekdays , competition is spotty at best, most of really big games are not in Rupp, and the atmosphere in Rupp is boring unless we are facing a marquee opponent which happens only 3-4 times per year. I do not really think the composition of the team plays a major role. The schedule does! On the other hand I look forward to football games even though I never tail gate. The atmosphere is much more fun .

 

[jace2012]

I don't understand why people claim roster has anything to do with attendance being down. I would root for Sister Mary elephant for even half a season long as she played for Kentucky wildcats. I think its tv thing and being able to stream games.some people will only pull for a team only if they are on top. ( fair weather fans)