We all know that the attendance for the Kentucky Wildcats’ first three home games this season has been really low. The pictures of the crowd have been shocking and disappointing.
Times have changed. pic.twitter.com/LIc5xyLmnw
— Drew Franklin (@DrewFranklinKSR) November 19, 2019
Bad optics—flag for anthem located over section 240–the section with no fans. pic.twitter.com/b4wrxnzNX6
— John Huang (@KYHuangs) November 18, 2019
Maybe the worst crowd I've ever seen for a @KentuckyMBB home game. Eruption zone not even half full. @waltermccarty deserves better. No worry about taking out the seats pic.twitter.com/Z79Cy8hZ1m
— Ryan Lemond (@ryanlemond) November 13, 2019
Good to see the students showing up for the #UK basketball game! #Kentucky’s enrollment is at an ALL-TIME high of 30K+, more than 6K from when I was in school & the UK students won’t show up. UK already decreased student allotment with renovations, but need to take more away! pic.twitter.com/aitdncRVgW
— tgh3316 (@tgh3316) November 13, 2019
The attendance number have been so low that John Calipari sent out a video to K-Fund members and basketball season-ticket holders encouraging them to pack Rupp Arena. Luckily, Oscar Combs shared the video on Twitter.
Here is what Cal had to say:
“Alright guys. Here we go again. Typical year. Young team. Probably a few more injuries than we’ve had at this point, but we need that sixth man as we’re going through this. All these teams we’re playing are good enough to beat us. We’re good enough to beat them. We still have a young team.
“Numbers are down. Fans become big in this. Get to those games, put those fannies in the seats, and please be a part of this. Build these kids up as we try to figure all this stuff out together.
“Let’s go, BBN.”
Each game, the attendance has been announced a lot higher than the amount that were actually in the building. Oscar Combs also tweeted out some eye-opening stats regarding the attendance so far this season.
That was Utah Valley, not Utah in the last home game at Rupp. Two years ago at Rupp Arena, Utah Valley attracted a turnstile count of 15,554. The listed attendance in the official box score for that game was 19,807.
— Oscar Combs (@wildcatnews) November 22, 2019
It is disappointing that Cal had to send out that video and that the attendance numbers are so low. However, I honestly don’t see the numbers going up with the strength of the schedule until Louisville comes to Rupp and SEC play starts.
Hopefully I am wrong, and this video will help increase the turnout at these early season games.