catmandoo
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posted 05-26-2018 11:21 AM
Kentucky basketball sent notices to its season-ticket holders Friday announcing major changes coming to the game day experience at Rupp Arena: By the 2020-21 season, the facility will have four new club spaces, about 3,000 fewer seats and chair backs for upper-level sideline seats.
The renovations were negotiated into the university’s new lease with the Lexington Center Corporation that runs through 2033. They could cost up to $15 million. Replacing bleachers with actual chairs from section 211 to 217 and from 228 to 234 will reduce the capacity of the arena to about 20,500.
That would drop the historic building to sixth on the list of college basketball’s biggest cathedrals — but not necessarily take Kentucky out of the running for its annual attendance crown. The Wildcats have led the nation in attendance 20 times in the last 23 years. Second-place Syracuse averaged 21,462 last season.
The bigger worry for Big Blue Nation in this renovation, though, will be the resulting reshuffle of upper-level seating. Athletic department officials briefed SEC Country and other local reporters Thursday on the details of the project and how changes will affect fans. Lower-level seating will be unaffected, but the entire upper level will be reseated.
It is also possible upper-level student seating, which was often not full last season, will be reduced. Leading the nation in total attendance, one Kentucky official said Thursday, was less important to athletic department leaders than creating a better experience for the program’s fans.
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http://www.ukfightsong.com/
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