Everything To Know About The Rupp Arena Renovation

Rupp Arena as we know it will soon be gone. In a short year from now, the upper level will see a major renovation with chair-back seating throughout the two sideline sides, and there will be four brand new club areas for those fans interested in adding a little more luxury to their game day experience. It is a major makeover of college basketball's greatest arena and you can learn everything there is to know about the project by reading this thorough rundown of what's to come.   If your seats are in the lower level, you will not be affected. For those of you with prime real estate in the lower bowl, most of this is not for you. You should continue reading about some minor changes to your game day, but your seats are not in jeopardy in any way. If your seats are in the upper level, you should pay attention. Because you're probably going to have to move. The upper-level sideline seats are getting chair-backs. All seats located along the sidelines in the upper level will be upgraded from bleachers to comfortable chair-back seating. This includes any and all seats in sections 211-217 and 228-234. These are not bleacher-back seats like in Kroger Field; they will be stadium chair-back seats. The end zones will not change. The installment of the new seating will not occur until after the upcoming season. Construction is set for Spring of 2019. You get one more year of bleachers, so your butts should cherish every moment with the metal they've sat on for decades. Rupp Arena's max capacity will decrease. With the new seating comes a decline in the number of seats throughout the arena. The chair-backs will be wider than the current bleacher spots, therefore the total number of seats will drop. There is only so much room in the arena and the expansion will unfortunately take up more space per fan. The estimated capacity will be more like 20,500. This number is not final, only a rough estimate. If accurate, Rupp Arena will still be the sixth-largest arena and still capable of winning college basketball attendance awards. UK projects around a 3,000 drop in seating. There are more specifics to work out. The specifics of the actual seat size and a diagram of the new upper level are currently unavailable as those two things are still TBD. Season ticket holders will pick their new seats. As was the case with the Kroger Field reshuffle, fans with the most K-Fund points will be given the first opportunity to select their new seats. However, UK listened and learned from the Kroger Field reshuffle and will make a better effort to keep fans together. One of the things they learned is that many fans only know each other from sitting together at games and they're unable to contact each other, so they're working to accommodate those people in the seat reassignment process. IMPORTANT: No season ticket holders will be displaced due to the renovation. Season ticket holders, you have priority. You will likely have to move, but your attendance at games will not be taken away from you with the reduction in capacity. The reduction will be made up for in other areas: students, staff, single-game tickets, etc. (although how it's divided has not been decided.) Ticket pricing is not connected to the renovation and will not change. So that's nice. There will eventually be four new club levels. Imagine the Woodford Reserve Club at Kroger Field. The goal is four new areas similar to that. Two of the four club areas will be available to the public for the 2019-20 season. A third will be open but not to the public. It will replace what is now the President's Room, where UK entertains its VIP guests. A third public club area (the fourth and final club area) will be available for the 2020-21 season. This will be the largest of the four and will be off by itself. Estimated club capacity is 3,000 to 4,000. That is across all four clubs. The club areas will be built onto the back of Rupp Arena. The new space is an addition onto the lower/Jefferson Street side of the arena (opposite the Hyatt and Triangle Park). Which means... John Calipari is losing his VIP parking spot. In fact, all parking in the Manchester lot will be impacted. The club levels will not have a view of the court. Consider it a nice pregame and postgame hangout, although you're more than welcome to go during the game if you don't mind watching the action on TV. But you can drink! Club packages will include food and non-alcoholic beverages, and booze will be available for purchase for all you party animals. The club level will not be attached to any seats. Any and all season ticket holders can purchase a club spot, although priority will be given based on K-Fund points. Pricing, amenities and club design are all still TBD. The hope is to have a sneak peek in place at Big Blue Madness this fall. There will be no arena suites. If you were hoping to one day watch the Cats from a comfortable seat in a suite, well, too bad. Construction on the clubs will begin this July. You will see a lot of work being done in the very near future, but you will not see any major changes to your Rupp Arena experience until the 2019-20 season. (Other than a big mess on that one side, of course.)   I think that covers all there is to know at this time. If you have any more questions or want to read a little more than what I gave you, visit the Rupp renovation's site at UKAthletics.com/RuppRenovation.