LEXINGTON, Ky. – Big Blue Nation has a secession problem. Some of its most devoted citizens have bailed — at least physically — on Kentucky basketball.
Attendance is down, so much so that a renovation that will reduce Rupp Arena’s capacity by 3,000 seats moves forward without protest.
No-shows are on the rise, so much so that more than 28 percent of the tickets distributed this season have not registered on arena scans.
Pricing, parking, scheduling, seating, supply, demand, the economic theory of marginal utility, one-and-done culture and television technology were all mentioned by Kentucky fans among contributing causes for the erosion of a fan base that has ranked first or second in college basketball attendance every season since Rupp Arena opened in 1976.