Big Blue Madness tickets ‘sold out’ in 24 minutes. The UK basketball event will be on TV.
Tickets for Big Blue Madness didn’t last long.
The Oct. 11 event in Rupp Arena was “sold out” just 24 minutes after the distribution process began at 5 p.m. EDT Friday.
This year’s Big Blue Madness will be the first for new head coaches Mark Pope and Kenny Brooks, who were hired in the spring to lead the UK men’s and women’s basketball teams. Both coaches have revamped rosters and high expectations for the 2024-25 season. ESPN has both teams listed in its preseason Top 25 rankings.
There was no campout for Madness this year, and the only way for fans to obtain tickets was through Ticketmaster.com. Tickets were free, with a “minimal service fee” attached to each online order.
Big Blue Madness is set for 7 p.m. in Rupp Arena on Oct. 11, and the event will be shown live on SEC Network.
It took 38 minutes for all of the Madness tickets to be distributed last year, the final edition of the preseason showcase for former head coach John Calipari, who often made it a must-see spectacle for UK basketball fans over his 15 seasons in charge.
This edition of Big Blue Madness will also have a unique look.
UK announced earlier this week that Madness will take place on a special playing surface created by ASB GlassFloor, which has supplied similar courts for the most recent NBA All-Star Weekend and other high-profile basketball events.
The glass surface in Rupp Arena will feature LED technology beneath the playing surface, and graphics released by UK this week teased a glowing blue and black floor for the Wildcats. This will be the first college basketball event to take place on such a playing surface.
Tickets for the Blue/White Preseason Event — set for Oct. 18 in Memorial Coliseum — are already on sale. That showcase will replace the annual Blue-White scrimmage and feature both the men’s and women’s basketball teams. It will be used as a fundraiser to aid the programs’ NIL efforts.
Single-game ticket information for the UK men’s basketball 2024-25 season is expected to be released soon. The Wildcats’ first exhibition game is scheduled for Oct. 23 against Kentucky Wesleyan, and UK will host Wright State on Nov. 4 in the season opener.
This story was originally published September 27, 2024 at 10:42 AM.
