Kentucky's seven home games averaged 56,468 fans per game last season, up 2,825 from '16GETTY IMAGES
The Univ. of Kentucky has sold around 28,800 football season tickets for the '18 season at Kroger Field, which is down 10% "from about 32,000 at this time a year ago," according to Jennifer Smith of the LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER. There were "about 2,000 season tickets purchased between this time last year and the start" of the '17 season. Based on past sales, UK "expects to sell about 5,000 tickets to students." UK's seven home games in '17 "brought in an average of 56,468 fans." That number was "up 2,825" from the '16 season. The increase "made UK No. 16 nationally in attendance increases" (LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER, 7/10). Meanwhile, in Lexington, John Clay notes actual game attendance is "down for most every major sport," and the NCAA’s numbers last year revealed average attendance for the 129 D-I football teams "dropped by 1,409 fans per game" from '17 to '16. That is the "largest decline" since '83. Despite the SEC's "national success and the fervor of its fan bases," the conference "hasn’t been immune from this trend" either (LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER, 7/11).
