Should UK stop playing one annual game in Louisville? (Lexington: how much, home)

[censusdata]

I wish the KY had a sports sticky, but since it doesn't I'll post this on the main forum

Has anyone noticed how much UK's attendance during the annual home game in Louisville has dropped? The Cats haven't drawn over 11,000 (that;s almost half Freedom Hall's 18,865 capacity) in any game since IU. Yesterday only 10,173 showed up. By comparison UK draws 20,000 in a bad day at Rupp - that equates to a ton of money lost for UK during this one game

Should UK keep playing this game despite the bad attendance?

[InLondon]

I find it rather goofy that they do this. Why Louisville?

[censusdata]

Originally Posted by InLondon

I find it rather goofy that they do this. Why Louisville?

There are nearly as many UK alumni in Louisville as there are in Lexington - I believe its 25,000 in Jefferson and 40,000 in Fayette. To a degree it's also an ego thing with UK wanting to keep a large fan base in the state's largest city, like a lot of other flagships do (UT plays in Nashville, UM plays in Detroit).

I believe UK used to actually sell this game out, but U of L is taking more of a hold, plus it seems like a lot more UK alums stay in Lex rather than moving back to Louisville (I know 20 people who did that). Louisville tends to be more sensitive to economic swings as well, which can hurt ticket sales.

What I would really like to see is a mini tournament btw several KY public schools rotating btw Lou and Lex. An example: U of L vs EKU vs the winner of WKU vs Morehead St in Rupp, then UK vs WKU vs the winner of Murray vs NKU in Freedom Hall (or the new arena) next year.

The CJ had an article stating that UK will likely play in Freedom Hall after the new arena is built because U of L gets scheduling priority in men's & women's bball - the article blaming scheduling for UK's reduced attendance (as it is usually against lesser teams).

[InLondon]

The new arena? The last I heard, it was just a possibility.

[censusdata]

Originally Posted by InLondon

The new arena? The last I heard, it was just a possibility.

No, the money for it is literally in the bank already - the money was secured right before the economy collapsed. There are hundreds of workers at the site daily digging the foundation for it. The exterior of it could be mostly complete this time next year.

I have doubts that the two new skyscrapers will be built, but honestly Louisville doesn't need a new skyscraper it needs a bunch of two story buildings to fill in all those awful parking lots downtown.

[bw87a]

live cam from the arena:
OxBlue Construction Camera: Louisville Arena Authority

i believe that UK should continue playing a game in louisville, but i do agree that it should be IU or another non conference team that would allow more fans to come. i also would like to say that the annual game here at freedom hall doesn't seem to be advertised very well. that could also be a problem. and i don't think the economy has anything to do with it. i think louisville has too larger of a population than lexington to be compared to lexington and their individual responses during an economic downturn.

[InLondon]

Ohhhhh, I thought you were talking about a new Rupp Arena.

[stx12499]

Originally Posted by censusdata

There are nearly as many UK alumni in Louisville as there are in Lexington - I believe its 25,000 in Jefferson and 40,000 in Fayette. To a degree it's also an ego thing with UK wanting to keep a large fan base in the state's largest city, like a lot of other flagships do (UT plays in Nashville, UM plays in Detroit).

I believe UK used to actually sell this game out, but U of L is taking more of a hold, plus it seems like a lot more UK alums stay in Lex rather than moving back to Louisville (I know 20 people who did that). Louisville tends to be more sensitive to economic swings as well, which can hurt ticket sales.

What I would really like to see is a mini tournament btw several KY public schools rotating btw Lou and Lex. An example: U of L vs EKU vs the winner of WKU vs Morehead St in Rupp, then UK vs WKU vs the winner of Murray vs NKU in Freedom Hall (or the new arena) next year.

The CJ had an article stating that UK will likely play in Freedom Hall after the new arena is built because U of L gets scheduling priority in men's & women's bball - the article blaming scheduling for UK's reduced attendance (as it is usually against lesser teams).

can you verify this stat with a source? It is my understanding that Jefferson County has the most UK alumni in the state.

http://www.ukalumni.net/Maps/statewebmap.htm


Louisville certainly deserves to have a game, as most state's flagship universities play in the state's major city. As an example, the University of Illinois played to a light crowd in Chicago this year but the game is VERY important to the wealthy donors (and regular fans) in the area.

Anyways clearly from this map, the Louisville metro area has just as many UK alumni as Lexington metro, and this only includes the KY metro counties. I can assure you that the Big Blue reach streches well into Southern Indiana where the Walmarts have just as large UK and UofL sections as they do IU.

[censusdata]

According to this article there were 23,090 UK alums in Jefferson Co as of 2007. I believe I saw 40,000 on UK's page but can't find the link right now

University of Kentucky News -- news.uky.edu

[stx12499]

Originally Posted by censusdata

According to this article there were 23,090 UK alums in Jefferson Co as of 2007. I believe I saw 40,000 on UK's page but can't find the link right now

University of Kentucky News -- news.uky.edu

Well, according to my map they are about equal. The difference, either way, is negligible. That map I posted proves there are just as many UK alumni in the Louisville metro area as Lexington. There is no way Lexington has 40,000 alumni living in fayette count, and according to the range on that map I posted, it is less than 35,000. Furthermore, as you know, many of UK's biggest bball fans are not college educated (or educated at UL or some community college).