Never Been To Rupp Arena?
I am routinely surprised at the number of Kentucky Basketball fans that truly bleed blue, yet never make it inside Rupp Arena. I realize there could be a number of reasons for that and that each situation is different. I hope I can help encourage some of those fans who never think of going just because they assume that tickets are not attainable. Many of the early season games are easily accessible and quite often available under face value. For those fans looking to catch the entire season at Rupp, while it obviously has a higher finacial obligation, those tickets can be found too.
The UK Basketball Waiting List Myth
A consistent question posed to my wife and myself over the years of having our UK basketball sesason tickets is…"how did you get those?" We usually begin by telling people that we got very lucky. A response that we've heard more than a few times is that they were under the impression that tickets were only available if you were on some sort of waitlist. True for the Green Bay Packers, but not the Kentucky Wildcats. Up until a month before we got our tickets, I wasn't quite sure how the process worked either. While many now know the process, there are still a lot of UK basketball fans that may have never heard how to apply for them.
A Little Bit Of (OK..a Lot Of) Luck
Prior to the 2004 basketball season, a good friend of mine called to tell me that a widowed coworker had season tickets she was looking to sell. This was a great opportunity but I felt the asking price seemed a little bit high. Truth was, I had no idea what a pair of tickets to every single game would cost. I hopped on the interweb and headed over to http://www.ukathletics.com/page/tickets-men-s-basketball-season-tickets where I found everything I needed to know. It's the same process now as it was then. Basically, you send in a postcard and they draw those entries lottery style. The number of new tickets awarded depends on how many current season ticket holders choose not to renew. We got lucky and had our name pulled on the very first try but I know there are many that have tried year after year with no such luck. The renewal period has already started and I did notice something different this year that could signal more availability for this upcoming sesason. The UK ticket office sent out incentives to renew early this season, which we've received before for football but not basketball. Maybe there is nothing to it, but with rising ticket costs and the ease of watching from home, could it be a signal of a lower demand for season tickets ?
You Didn't Win The Lottery?
You'll want to get those postcards in before the end of September. Hopefully, you will get the call from the UK ticket office, but there are other ways to obtain season tickets. I know of several people who have built a relationship with a season ticket holder and buy, or split, tickets with that person. You also will start to find listings start to populate around October on sites like Stubhub.
See Ya At Rupp
The information above is nothing new to many (probably most) UK fans. But there has always been that group of diehard Wildcat Basketball fans that have never attempted to search for tickets because they've believed them to be unattainable. It's that part of the fanbase that I hope to encourage. It's a special thrill for that type of fan being inside Rupp for the first time and I hope this post helps in getting more of those folks to the game. Thanks for reading and see ya at Rupp Arena.
