‘Unprecedented times.’ UK has bad news for fans wishing to buy basketball tickets
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A capacity crowd at University of Kentucky home basketball games this coming season will be 3,075 . . . or less.
In a letter sent to elected officials and selected season ticket holders last week, school president Eli Capilouto wrote that UK would not be offering those persons season- and single-game tickets in the 2020-21 season.
“Based on current CDC guidance and the Kentucky Department of Public Health’s directives, indoor sports can only have a 15% maximum capacity,” the letter reads. “This will not permit us to extend the normal offers this season.”
Rupp Arena has a listed capacity for basketball of 20,500. Fifteen percent translates to only 3,075 fans as capacity.
UK continues to work with the office of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear to determine how many fans will attend games, the school said. As of now, the 15 percent figure is probably not 15 percent of ticketed fans. It probably will include all people in the building, which could include concessionaires, ticket takers, players and media, UK said.
In the first 42 years of playing home games in Rupp Arena, Kentucky led the nation in average attendance 28 times. UK finished second the other 14 times.
The smallest announced home crowd is believed to be 17,038 to watch Kentucky beat High Point on Dec. 3, 2002.
Capilouto cited the coronavirus pandemic as the reason far fewer fans will be permitted to attend Kentucky home games. Earlier this year, UK announced that only about 20 percent of capacity would be allowed at home football games.
“As you are certainly aware, the University of Kentucky is navigating unprecedented times during the global COVID-19 pandemic,” Capilouto wrote. “There is not one facet of the university’s operations that has not been adversely impacted by this situation and as much as I had hoped we would be back to ‘normal operations’ by this time, that is far from reality.”
Capilouto expressed the hope that the 2021-22 school year would mark a return to “normal” activity “and can once again have you in attendance with us. We all face great challenges in the short term, and I appreciate everything you do for the University of Kentucky.”
