Cats fans in Louisville: Is Freedom Hall an insult?
by cyndytandy on Jan 4, 2012 5:56 PM EST
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So my buddies on www.louisvilleky.com started a near riot by telling me we ( Calipari et al)
should stop playing "cupcake" games in Louisville. Check it out:
http://louisvilleky.com/2012/01/its-time-for-uk-to-drop-its-louisville-trip/
I said its an insult to make us play in Freedom Hall,
and not Pitino's taj mahal!
what say you, Oh sea of blue?
Help! xo Cyndy
http://louisvilleky.com/2012/01/no-cats-fans-in-the-ville-maybe-not-at-freedom-hall/
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I'm perfectly happy playing in Freedom
especially considering that we have our logo on the floor
by UKfanNick on Jan 4, 2012 7:41 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Its not the venue - its the timing of the game and the competition
Back when UK used to play a quality game in Freedom Hall – Notre Dame and many others – the fans had something to get excitied about. Most of these were Saturday evening games, if I remember correctly and they always had an open shoot-around during the morning of the game. Fans could take their kids and see the players up close and get autographs easily. Maybe the Lousiville UK fans are getting a little tired of low quality competition and the turn-out goes down. Freedom Hall isn’t the problem IMO.
A man is nothing more than a summation of his scars!
I love Freedom Hall.
I have no desire to play in the Chicken Ranch. I’d go either way, but I think versus an opponent like UALR, UK won’t sell out FH, and the Chicken Ranch would look deserted.
Move the IU game to neutral sites, and I guarantee they will sell out. Or, make an annual series with Western at Freedom Hall, and you’ll see sellouts.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
I've never been to Freedom Hall
However, the main reason the games dont’ sell out, as stated above, is the cupcakes. I’m kind of meh on playing home games away from Rupp anyway.
Dayman, Fighter of the Nightman, Champion of the Sun
Bring the Freedom Hall home game
back to Rupp, make the extra money from the season ticket holders and keep the UL,IU and UNC rivalries.
Making waves in a sea of blue.
This was my thought
Especially if IU goes back to neutral site games, giving Louisville folks a game there every other year.
Yeah, right.
All these fans who are not season ticket holders in the western and southern part of the state can just drive up to Rupp Arena and try to fight their way for a nosebleed seat.
I figure that game costs UK about 210K or so in gate. That would seem to be worth it to bring UK basketball to more of the fans. Right now, getting a seat in Rupp where you can watch without the aid of binoculars costs more than the average fan is willing to pay.
The FH game gives all of us who live out of Lexington and who aren’t willing to pay a small fortune for merely decent seats to see a lousy opponent a chance to at least see that game at a reasonable price.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
Check out the attendance figures for the Louisville site game over the years
on Jon Scott’s website. When the opponent is quality (i.e., IU), attendance is in the 19,000-20,000 range. When opponent is a mid-major, figures drop to 13,000-15,000. I think that tells the whole story. If UK wants to look at the Louisville site game as a revenue producer, a quality opponent is a must.
Another thing people don't realize ...
… is that at least 5000 of every Rupp Arena crowd are students, not to mention the 38,000 students and faculty with first dibs on tickets. It’s a wonder that every game doesn’t sell out.
The reality is, while there are a lot of UK fans in Louisville, they are dwarfed by the number of people in Lexington and the suburbs. Contrary to popular belief, there are not more UK fans in the Louisville area than Louisville fans.
Subtract the student population alone and you would rarely sell the place out in Lexington. It isn’t reasonable to expect to bring in a lower-level Sun Belt opponent from Arkansas with no season ticket holders and expect to sell 18,000 seats to the game without a student population present. Nobody in their right mind would expect that. You want to increase attendance? Include the game in the season ticket package. Of course, if you’re going to do that, you might as well hold it at Rupp.
This whole argument about attendance at the Louisville games is sophistry. It has been the same for many years. Mitch Barnhart perfectly well knows this, too.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
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