Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
A typical Louisville fan trying to scalp his basketball tickets. Note the empty lot.
As an aging UK Alumnus, there is one particular downside of the recent UK basketball resurgence: Ticket prices. Last year was one of those rare seasons where UK basketball tickets were more abundant than bad Jersey Shore references in the blogosphere (Self-fulfilling sentence activated). It seemed like every Jim-Bob or Jolene Kentucky Fan had a couple of extra tickets he or she was looking to unload a few days before a game. These bad boys were typically being offered at face value and generally in a decent location. You could hardly walk into a Thorton’s gas station or Jerry’s Restaurant and not have some old-timer nearly assault you with ducats. If you had never experienced Rupp Arena, it was a great time to see the cathedral of college basketball on the cheap (even if the choir was singing a bit off key).
My particular windfall came last January mere hours before the UK-South Carolina home game. My brother-in-law called saying his neighbor was looking to unload his seats and couldn’t find a buyer. The neighbor only wanted face value. The location? Lower arena about 10 rows behind UK’s bench. Bwah? I snapped them up and was able to witness Devan Downey assassinate the Big Blue in the final seconds of a crucial SEC game. Obviously, we weren’t tough enough to win, but the seats were great and I had an absolute blast. It was one of the few times I have been that close to the action which is saying something as I have been to Rupp well over 100 times.
Flash forward less than a year and the difference couldn’t be more stark. Calipari has the Wildcats rolling and the team has achieved rock star status. Columnists everywhere, from Bill Simmons to Tony Kornheiser Pat Forde are talking and writing about our talented freshmen. All that hype and excitement has translated into dollar signs for scalpers and season ticket holders everywhere. I was determined to see the game from a decent spot in lower Rupp arena sometime this year. . before I started checking prices on Craigslist and Stubhub. For pedestrian games against Arkansas and Georgia, lower arena tickets were going for $300-$600. . .EACH. For bigger games like Louisville or Vanderbilt, the lower arena prices were exceeding $1000 a pop.
I quickly gave up my attempt to watch the Cats play at home and turned my attention to the road. Surely, I could travel to a game, stay in a nice hotel, and snag some lower arena seats for far less than cost of attending a game at Rupp. Not so fast, Johnsey (/Corso). Apparently, every other UK fan had the same notion. The Wildcat road show is an absolute force and fans of both teams (UK and their opponent) are snapping up tickets like crazy causing ticket prices to skyrocket. Lower level tickets for the recent Vanderbilt game were starting in the $300 range on Stubhub and soaring from there. The game at Auburn didn’t have any tickets under $150.
Check out this site that examines what I like to call The Big Blue Effect. There is an expectation that the ticket prices for the NCAA tournament will be higher than normal based on UK fan interest alone. Here at ground zero, the average ticket price of the Louisville game was $430. Considering that most tickets in upper Rupp didn’t go for nearly that much, that is an incredible number.
So where does that leave me and those of my ilk? Older guys that no longer have valid student IDs, don’t have enough K-fund points to buy grandstand seats for the Rifle team, and are apprehensive about the vertigo and cramped accommodations of upper arena seating? I guess we’ll just have to tough it out at home with our HDTV and refrigerator full of PBR. You know? Given the choice of watching a bad team in person or a transcendent team from the comfortable confines of the Johns hacienda, I think I’d rather have the latter.
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February 24th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
Lots of extra seats at the Tarheels game tonight
February 24th, 2010 at 8:01 pm
Where did you get your numbers? My Auburn tickets were 20.00 each. I got UGA tickets coming up at 15.00 each and the seats for both games were/are decent.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Go watch the ladies. Good team, good seats, a lot cheaper.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
If you drink PBR you’re an idiot.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
2) Stubhub and Craigslist. Courtside, lower level Georgia and Auburn tix? I’m not traveling to sit in nosebleeds.
4) Meh. I just wanted to put the link in for owning a brewery.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
For me, as long as I’m in Rupp I’m pumped.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
Prestonsburg Jerry’s is where it’s at.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
Those tickets are way too high. It has gotten un affordable. i went to the Ole miss game by getting tickets from a co-worker who could not go. My what a year makes…….
February 24th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
Boom Roasted.
http://i634.photobucket.com/albums/uu65/BPsycho/LouisvilleRocks.jpg
February 24th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
I am gonna be at the Florida game and need 2 tickets, anyone have any idea how much they will be?
February 24th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
pic is actually at papa john’s stadium.
“good luck findin any takers buddy”
February 24th, 2010 at 8:44 pm
9 Louisville fans can’t even spell the word “the” when they are just thinking it….
February 24th, 2010 at 8:44 pm
Yeah, a season like this where tickets are hard as hell to come by make me glad I invested in that 50 inch HD
February 24th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Check out SEC Tourney Tix, geese!
February 24th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
#12 Yeah or the word “gots” they really are dumb.
Pretty… pretty.. pretty. pretty dumb.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
Bought $5 tix from LSU ticket office. 4 tix mailed to my house for $27. Seats were upper but we ended up setting 3rd row behind UK bench.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
where you finding the tickets for so cheap?
February 24th, 2010 at 9:50 pm
#7 If your one hundred years old.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
#17 Ten minutes to Wapner.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
I got to sit in the lower arena 11 rows back against Sam Houston St. because my girlfriend won tickets from an employee picnic that her bank she works at put on. Apparently the bank holds season tickets. It was the best seats I have ever had there. The game was pretty exciting as well. Other than that I have only got to be in the upper arena.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
I am afraid of this exact phenomenon as i head to Nashville in two weeks sans tix. i’m seeing some steeeeeeep prices for bleeders. Could be a Buffalo Billiards weekend with CATS fans, watching us claim the SEC tourney from around the block…
February 24th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Paid $20 for Auburn tix through the AU ticket office. Paid $45 for a single outside before the game.
Scalpers/Brokers wanted $250 for lowers @ Vandy.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:34 pm
At Vandy I stood outside for over an hour before the game.. There were only about 5 people who had tickets and wach wanted at least 150 for each ticket, and those were uppers. Its the only thing that sucks about Us bein back on top
February 24th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Hey dumbass thats not even freedom hall, so how can a louisville fan be scalping BASKETBALL tickets
February 24th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Speaking of which… I need tickets to the UK/UG game in Athens…or at least a ticket.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:25 am
I was a freshman during Sutton’s last year and routinely got second row tickets from my girlfriend’s roommate’s parents. Front row seats to see Ellis mail in his effort.
February 25th, 2010 at 8:18 am
I was fortunate enough to score a pair of season tickets through the UK ticket lottery last year. Although our seats are upper level in the last row, I love just being in Rupp. Last year was tough because of the losses, but I still went to nearly every game. As you can imagine, it’s been incredible being there this year to see the turn around. Hearing seats around me go for $335 a piece for the Louisville game, I have been tempted to sell my tickets a time or two. However, I haven’t been able to pull the trigger, something about selling them seems wrong. I’m not getting the tickets to make money, I would rather have a true blue fan see the game then me make some cash. I can definitely see why someone would not want to spend that kind of cash on a upper level ticket, it’s a long way from the court, people are packed in like sardines up there, the hike up there is tough, the cameras don’t even make it up that far.
February 25th, 2010 at 8:59 am
Got lucky at Vandy game in Nashville. Scalped for $75 each, lower level about 20 rows behind UK bench…was awesome. I found another guy selling higher level for $150 each, and that was next cheapest.
February 25th, 2010 at 9:01 am
21- I feel your pain. But all of the bars down there will be loaded with blue, so that’d be fun also. And FYI, if y’all are looking on Nashville Craigslist, be wary, lots of scammers out there already trying to sell SEC tix. If it’s too good of a price, it’s likely a scam.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
#27 http://i634.photobucket.com/albums/uu65/BPsycho/UofLTourney.jpg
February 25th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
I got two great lowers to Ole Miss from a co-worker for free. We wanted to take our kid, so I bought a third upper for face value - at the ticket window 5 minutes before tip off.
Tickets are harder to come by, but as always you can find them for select games if you just look around and are willing to buy uppers. (And, I am of the opinion that you don’t have to stay in the uppers…although poaching is getting harder too b/c of the quality team.)