UK games this fall: No single seating, babies pay full price and donations encouraged
If you’re a Kentucky football season-ticket holder who plans on staying home this fall, the university would still very much appreciate your money.
Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart in an email to season-ticket holders sent Thursday night expressed gratitude for fans’ loyalty to the program before stressing the negative impact that a lighter home schedule for football games with reduced attendance capacity will have on the athletic department’s budget. The school has started a new donation arm designed to sustain athletic scholarships — the “Ev’ry Wildcat Fund” — to which season-ticket holders can direct would-be refunds of previously made payments in exchange for K Fund priority points.
“We realize, now more than ever, that it’s a tough time to ask for donations,” Barnhart wrote. “However, I also know the loyalty and generosity of the Big Blue Nation is unmatched. We truly do have the best fan base in America, and we thank you for that.”
UK announced Thursday that it would allow 12,000 fans this season into its home football games, about 20 percent of the max capacity at Kroger Field, along with additional information about game-day guidelines and restrictions.
Season-ticket holders who don’t want to be part of the priority single-game sales procedure have three options. They can:
▪ Direct all payments (tickets, seat donations, parking pass, etc.) already made to the Ev’ry Wildcat Fund as a charitable gift and receive 10 K Fund points for every $100 donated (normal K Fund rate is 2 points per $100) plus an additional 30 K Fund points on top of that.
▪ Apply all payments already made to the 2021 season, and also receive 30 K Fund points.
▪ Request a refund of payments, which may take up to 60 days of processing.
Regardless of which option is chosen, all season-ticket holders who renewed for the 2020 season will be able to maintain their previous seating and parking locations for the 2021 season.
Single-game tickets will range from $60-$150 per ticket based on location. Specifics on how to register for the priority single-game ticket sales window will be communicated to all season-ticket holders this weekend, and those sales are expected to begin Sept. 16 and continue through Sept. 22, or while supplies last. Appointments will be determined by K Fund priority ranking.
Tickets must be purchased in multi-person blocks — the majority of them in two- or four-person groups, but some three-, five- and six-person blocks will be available — and will be entirely mobile. Tickets are priced to include parking within their cost and will be scanned upon entry. The ticket-buying process must be completed separately for each game a season-ticket holder wishes to attend, and the school says it is unlikely that the same seats will be available for purchase each game.
No infant lap tickets, normally $10, will be sold this season due to social distancing compliance (the school confirmed that single-game tickets must be purchased for infants brought into the stadium). The school says a “limited number” of student tickets will be available and sold on a single-game basis, but plans for the distribution of those tickets are not finalized.
No tickets can be sold, transferred or provided to non-family members or “other trusted acquaintances” unless all tickets within a block are being transferred. Cancellation and postponement options will be communicated if needed.
For more information, visit bit.ly/3k3G1ha.
Financial background
Ticket sales accounted for about $37 million of the $150,435,832 total revenue that UK generated in fiscal year 2019. Of the ticket amount, football ticket sales accounted for $13,937,802, second among all programs at the school behind basketball ($21,664,972).
Contributions to the athletic department, which in the school’s financial reporting aren’t classified by specific programs, exceeded $23 million in fiscal year 2019.
Football generated the bulk of revenue related to parking, program, novelty items and concession sales. That program accounted for a little more than $2.4 million of the school’s $3.2 million total.
Estimating an average ticket cost of $105, which would also include parking, if it were to sell out all five of its home games this season at a capacity of 12,000, Kentucky would generate about $6.3 million in revenue from football.
