Univ. of Kentucky President Dr. Eli Capilouto in a letter sent last week to elected officials and select ticket holders wrote that the school "would not be offering those persons season- and single-game tickets in the 2020-21 season," according to Jerry Tipton of the LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER. The letter notes indoor sports "can only have a 15% maximum capacity." Rupp Arena has a listed capacity for basketball of 20,500, so 15% translates to only 3,075 fans as capacity. The school said that it continues to work with the office of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear "to determine how many fans will attend games." As of now, the 15% figure is "probably not 15 percent of ticketed fans." UK said that it probably will include "all people in the building, which could include concessionaires, ticket takers, players and media." In the first 42 years of playing home games in Rupp Arena, UK "led the nation in average attendance 28 times." The school finished second the other 14 times (LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER, 10/27).
LIMITED CAPACITY: Univ. of Kansas AD Jeff Long said that the total capacity for men's basketball games at 16,300-seat Allen Fieldhouse this season "will be approximately 1,500 fans per game." Long said the school had "allotted approximately 850 tickets per game for Williams Education Fund donors with the rest going to faculty and staff, students, coaches' families and player guests and visiting teams." In K.C., Gary Bedore notes the athletic department "will be changing from a season ticket to a single-game ticket model this season." Long said that single-game ticket prices "will be adjusted based on the opponent and seating location within Allen Fieldhouse." Long also said the seating layout was prepared "with six-foot social distancing between groups in the seating areas as well as additional Big 12 Conference mandates." Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self said of the adjustments for this season amid the pandemic, "It's doable, It's different. This doesn't need to be a year to get worked up about any of that stuff. It will be so different this year" (K.C. STAR, 10/27).
