What Type of Attendance Should We Expect For Opener Against Southern Miss?

shadowman4

All-Conference
Sep 20, 2002
2,913
1,515
98
It should be a picture perfect weather game and in the mid 70's around kick off. Based on the fact this could be an explosive, fun offense to watch, what can we expect attendance wise? I think capacity is now around 61,000 and with only about 39,500 season tickets sold what can we expect. I assume student section should account for 3,000 to 4,000 plus single tickets sold and walk up ticket sales the day of the fame, I am hoping for at least 55,000 with basically the corners and some end zone not full. Am I being overly optimistic? Any chance what so ever for a sellout?
 

maverick1rw

Senior
Dec 18, 2006
6,845
527
0
I don't see a sell out. Hopefully its a good turn out. The bad beats late last year against VANDY and UL not to mention keeping cats from a bowl really hurt. Hopefully the coaching changes will help moving forward for sell outs. GBB
 

ville 77

Redshirt
Jul 15, 2013
1,045
41
0
I am going to guess with good weather the Cats sell about 53,000 but they will announce a minimum of 56,000.
 

TuckyFB

Heisman
Jun 21, 2016
8,220
21,263
65
This game nor the New Mexico St game will be sold out but I think we go 3-0 and it's a sell out vs South Carolina.

Edit: Yes, the streak ends!
 

STUCKNBIG10

All-Conference
Aug 30, 2006
7,302
2,861
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I'm guessing around 50,000. Going to take some wins to get some of the non-believers back on board. South Carolina will be sold out.
 

ulismyman

All-Conference
Jan 11, 2015
6,451
3,335
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It will be sold out...why is this even a discussion??? Opening night, new season, hope springs eternal...i will be shocked if itsnt full
 
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Nuke99m.

All-American
Aug 30, 2002
8,616
7,675
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I think Dorkmeister is correct. It will be announced close to 60,000.

I looked on ticketmaster and there might be 1500 still for sale.
 
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LeonThe Camel

Senior
May 3, 2016
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717
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It should be a picture perfect weather game and in the mid 70's around kick off. Based on the fact this could be an explosive, fun offense to watch, what can we expect attendance wise? I think capacity is now around 61,000 and with only about 39,500 season tickets sold what can we expect. I assume student section should account for 3,000 to 4,000 plus single tickets sold and walk up ticket sales the day of the fame, I am hoping for at least 55,000 with basically the corners and some end zone not full. Am I being overly optimistic? Any chance what so ever for a sellout?
Packed house
 

GG Allin

Junior
Dec 23, 2015
296
238
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UK is starting to pad the room now. Giving out free tickets to different departments at UK, etc. paid crowd, and actual crowd will be different
 

John Henry

Hall of Famer
Aug 18, 2007
35,575
172,801
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I would expect the stadium to be full. It is football season and the weather should be perfect. UK is an SEC school and as an SEC school we should expect a full house.

We are undefeated
 

reflaine

All-Conference
Jul 26, 2007
2,510
2,185
53
Be about the same number of uk fans as there are most other games. These non conference teams win exception of uofl don't sell out there allotment of tickets. And attendance is short because of that. USM will bring anywhere on a high end of 1000-1500 people. Where most sec teams not vandy bring 4-6k. That's the biggest difference in attendance. Same for NM state. We could win first two games 55-0 and still wouldn't sell out
 

Mr Schwump

Heisman
Nov 4, 2006
29,563
23,097
18
According to ESPN there are 500 tickets available. Those should be gone by game time one would think.
 

John Henry

Hall of Famer
Aug 18, 2007
35,575
172,801
113
Be about the same number of uk fans as there are most other games. These non conference teams win exception of uofl don't sell out there allotment of tickets. And attendance is short because of that. USM will bring anywhere on a high end of 1000-1500 people. Where most sec teams not vandy bring 4-6k. That's the biggest difference in attendance. Same for NM state. We could win first two games 55-0 and still wouldn't sell out

This is a sad state of affairs. Lexington has a couple of hundred thousand residents and another good size population base is only a few hours drive away. It is a Saturday in September and as far as I know nothing else is going on around town. If the stadium is not full they should open the gates up and let the community in for free. Football season only lasts a few months and we only play 7 or 8 home games. The student population is about 25,000 and you would expect half of them would be at the game. Fill it up folks.
 

JasonS.

All-American
Oct 10, 2001
41,813
7,192
0
I'd guess announced number is fairly close to a sellout (by hook or by crook), but a good number of empty seats. That's the new normal.
 

maverick1rw

Senior
Dec 18, 2006
6,845
527
0
This is a sad state of affairs. Lexington has a couple of hundred thousand residents and another good size population base is only a few hours drive away. It is a Saturday in September and as far as I know nothing else is going on around town. If the stadium is not full they should open the gates up and let the community in for free. Football season only lasts a few months and we only play 7 or 8 home games. The student population is about 25,000 and you would expect half of them would be at the game. Fill it up folks.

Very good point. I would be at every game if I were that close but at 8 hours round trip and owning a cow-calf operation it makes it tough. I prefer late games and give my other tickets away when some of my customers or others will take them.
 

DACats86

All-Conference
Jan 7, 2003
22,776
4,134
0
This is a sad state of affairs. Lexington has a couple of hundred thousand residents and another good size population base is only a few hours drive away. It is a Saturday in September and as far as I know nothing else is going on around town. If the stadium is not full they should open the gates up and let the community in for free. Football season only lasts a few months and we only play 7 or 8 home games. The student population is about 25,000 and you would expect half of them would be at the game. Fill it up folks.
Preach, brother. Weekends in the fall are each a holiday to me and my family. Can! Not! Wait!
 

WildCard

All-American
May 29, 2001
65,040
7,390
0
The new stadium capacity is "around" 61,000. Official attendance at last year's opener versus ULL was announced at 62,933.

As of last Sunday UK had sold 39,836 season ticket "packages" (including students) compared to 45,710 such packages in 2015. That's a decline of 5,874 season tickets from last year. Can visitors and single game sales account for about 21,000 fans?

Peace
 

Hjack

All-American
May 22, 2002
79,219
5,607
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I think it is safe to say that we will never know the actual attendance. Between the 'announced', projected, observed, tickets-sold and other 'factual' numbers, it's difficult to have any idea of the number of people actually at the game.
 

WildCard

All-American
May 29, 2001
65,040
7,390
0
I think it is safe to say that we will never know the actual attendance. Between the 'announced', projected, observed, tickets-sold and other 'factual' numbers, it's difficult to have any idea of the number of people actually at the game.
Yeah, I guess that is what I was "trying" to say. It seems like "attendance info" requires a very specific FOIA request. [winking]

Peace
 

Mr Schwump

Heisman
Nov 4, 2006
29,563
23,097
18
I think it is safe to say that we will never know the actual attendance. Between the 'announced', projected, observed, tickets-sold and other 'factual' numbers, it's difficult to have any idea of the number of people actually at the game.

Consider this: When a school, ANY school, announces attendance they count EVERYBODY who is at the game, tickets actually sold, given away, donated or otherwise taken from the ticket dept. And that EVERYBODY includes players, coaches, staff, concessions, cops, media, band, refs, etc, etc, etc. The only way to actually know how many butts are in the seats is to count every swinging dick that goes thru the gate. I'd rather watch the game and not fret over trivia things.
 

reflaine

All-Conference
Jul 26, 2007
2,510
2,185
53
Red white and boom is also going on at legends field. Jason Alden is there Saturday night. Most people have three day tickets with Eric church headlong Friday. Might effect some of the younger/student crowds. B
 
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STUCKNBIG10

All-Conference
Aug 30, 2006
7,302
2,861
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The new stadium capacity is "around" 61,000. Official attendance at last year's opener versus ULL was announced at 62,933.

As of last Sunday UK had sold 39,836 season ticket "packages" (including students) compared to 45,710 such packages in 2015. That's a decline of 5,874 season tickets from last year. Can visitors and single game sales account for about 21,000 fans?

Peace

Sure they can. Will they? Not sure, as it seems that the fanbase has become very jaded with the product. I think this year is critical - for most of my life, UK fans have filled the stands at a pretty good clip despite having a poor-to-mediocre product. Now, they are demanding more for their dollar (especially since a dollar gets you a lot less than it used to).

I think there will be a solid crowd there on Saturday, but not a sellout. A win over Florida results in a very good crowd against NMSU but again probably not a sellout. A 2-1 or 3-0 record results in a sellout against South Carolina. 1-2 may be a tougher sell for South Carolina...
 

Shydog

Heisman
Sep 11, 2013
6,746
10,775
113
just as a comparison,, I wonder how our second week opponent Florida will do attendance wise against UMass in week one? my guess is the swamp won't be full and they are defending east champs!
 

BoulderCat_rivals187983

All-Conference
May 22, 2002
7,871
3,227
0
I'll take a WAG at around 55K. Nice weather, new season and start, and despite not being a household name, a quality opponent. Kind of funny that CBS has them ranked 40 spots above us, but Vegas has us a 6.5 favorite. One of them is wrong, and if you'll pardon the pun my money is on CBS being the one.
 

John Henry

Hall of Famer
Aug 18, 2007
35,575
172,801
113
This method would severely undercount the women. I hope.
This is 2016. One never knows what is sitting in the next stall. Some women have different plumbing in today's world. They call it progress.
 

kyrivals

Sophomore
Jul 27, 2016
131
153
0
They been giving out a ton of free tickets. A lot more than usual. I say do what you gotta do to get it packed.
 
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WildCard

All-American
May 29, 2001
65,040
7,390
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Sure they can. Will they? Not sure, as it seems that the fanbase has become very jaded with the product. I think this year is critical - for most of my life, UK fans have filled the stands at a pretty good clip despite having a poor-to-mediocre product. Now, they are demanding more for their dollar (especially since a dollar gets you a lot less than it used to).

I think there will be a solid crowd there on Saturday, but not a sellout. A win over Florida results in a very good crowd against NMSU but again probably not a sellout. A 2-1 or 3-0 record results in a sellout against South Carolina. 1-2 may be a tougher sell for South Carolina...
I agree. The fan base now seems to be a lot more different than the fan base up through Joker's first year.

Over the past 6 or 7 years UK has been trying to cope with a much more mercurial fan base than the previous 50 years. The "fan revolt" of Joker era strongly suggests the "old guard" is declining in numbers and is being replaced by a much more fickle (or more demanding ???) group.

FWIW, I think they can "recapture" some of that old guard "I'll be there" fan loyalty but it is going to take sustained success over multiple seasons. There would be no better time to start than this year because I sense that many current ticket holders are in a restless "wait and see" mode.

JMO

Peace
 

jauk11

Heisman
Dec 6, 2006
60,631
18,638
0
I agree. The fan base now seems to be a lot more different than the fan base up through Joker's first year.

Over the past 6 or 7 years UK has been trying to cope with a much more mercurial fan base than the previous 50 years. The "fan revolt" of Joker era strongly suggests the "old guard" is declining in numbers and is being replaced by a much more fickle (or more demanding ???) group.

FWIW, I think they can "recapture" some of that old guard "I'll be there" fan loyalty but it is going to take sustained success over multiple seasons. There would be no better time to start than this year because I sense that many current ticket holders are in a restless "wait and see" mode.

JMO

Peace

I don't see why any real football fan wouldn't pay to see this game if they can, quality OOC foe that should be a win and the debut of what should be a very talented UK team, Boom, Toth, hopefully Barker among the best with some of the best talent we have ever had at several positions.

Are you going to both games, pretty easy to follow two teams with jurich running the show, start on a Thursday night and follow up with the Syracuse game on HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL'S night. Also another Thursday night game with Houston and another on HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL'S night against Duke.

I thought Transfer U had arrived already, LOL.
 
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STUCKNBIG10

All-Conference
Aug 30, 2006
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I agree. The fan base now seems to be a lot more different than the fan base up through Joker's first year.

Over the past 6 or 7 years UK has been trying to cope with a much more mercurial fan base than the previous 50 years. The "fan revolt" of Joker era strongly suggests the "old guard" is declining in numbers and is being replaced by a much more fickle (or more demanding ???) group.

FWIW, I think they can "recapture" some of that old guard "I'll be there" fan loyalty but it is going to take sustained success over multiple seasons. There would be no better time to start than this year because I sense that many current ticket holders are in a restless "wait and see" mode.

JMO

Peace

Agreed. The fanbase has changed. I used to think it was great that UK fans showed up NO MATTER WHAT, but i changed by thinking. The only way to get the admin to pay attention is to speak with your dollars and by failing to show up. Otherwise, we'd still be strapped with Joker.