Calipari says low attendance is mostly "COVID-driven"
Earlier today during his pre-Ohio game press conference, John Calipari was asked about Rupp Aren’s small crowds at games so far this season–a question from, you guessed it, Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Tipton is the beat reporter for Kentucky Basketball attendance and his pregame photos of empty seats have become part of Rupp Arena tradition, like ice cream, Dancing Guy, and feeling like you could fall onto center-court if you leaned too far forward from the upper level. Tipton is so committed to the gig, 16 of his last 18 media tweets are of crowd shots dating back to the team’s first public event, the Fans First Fans Fast at Transylvania University.
Some of Tipton’s 2021 greatest hits:
So it was expected of a man that passionate about his craft to ask Calipari what he thought about the low attendance in Kentucky’s first two home games of the season, crowds of 18,454 and 18,227, allegedly.
Calipari replied, “I think it mostly is COVID. That’s what I think it is. One of the things, a friend of mine–they only have two entrances into the building. You got an older crowd and you have to wait 25 minutes to get into the building, I think you’re going to think, ‘maybe next time I might not come.’
“But I think most of it is COVID-driven, but we sold a bunch of new season tickets, got a bunch of fundraising. I think the positive in this is: one, we needed our fans; and two, we’re still going to be one of the teams that lead the country in attendance. This COVID knocked everyone for a loop around the country, so you could have two guys say it’s this, two guys say it’s that; it doesn’t mean it’s what the majority of people think.”
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Not just COVID
COVID likely has a big impact on attendance this year with the mask policy in place and the overall hesitance to sit in an arena with thousands of other people. However, Kentucky Basketball attendance was sliding in pre-pandemic life, so the low turnouts can’t be solely attributed to the virus. We were having these conversations before COVID, before kneeling, and before the worst record in the program’s history. Tipton’s colleague, Mark Story, even wrote a column about empty seats in November of 2019.
Tipton was doing this before coronavirus was in our vocabularies.
Hopefully, Rupp Arena soon returns to form because we miss the old days of packed houses no matter the opponent. Calipari expects Rupp to reclaim its Gold Standard reputation in due time. He said, “If there are season tickets available, buy them because you may not get them for the next 15-20 years.”
If season tickets are too big of a commitment, there are tickets to Friday night’s game for as low as $28. Hope to see you there.
And one more thing on Tipton’s attendance records: it’s a little unfair to tweet the photos before the national anthem. Not many people are hurrying to their seats from work on a Friday night, and it’s almost impossible if you tried. The crowds have been bad, yes, but there are many late-arrivers because it can be madness to navigate downtown and get inside.
Anyway, Go Cats and go to Rupp sometime if you’re able.
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