The number of fans wearing blue was embarrassing. Some would say disgusting and not be exaggerating.

Some individuals in the University of Louisville athletic department are reportedly upset by the number of Kentucky fans on hand during the UofL-UK basketball game, especially in prime seating areas. And they finally are considering ways to alleviate the situation.

About time. This has gone on for years, with so-called UofL fans selling or giving their tickets to UK supporters. The violators include corporate ticket holders, students and, apparently, others motivated by reasons, financial and otherwise.

The back of the tickets says the items are not an irrevocable license, indicating ways the privilege can be lost for a number of reasons. They need to add one to prevent what happened last Friday so tickets are in the hands of people with the university’s best interests in mind.

The argument that corporate ticket buyers should be able to dispense tickets as they wish is old and not acceptable. When those seats are in the most desirable areas of the arena, there are other, more loyal, corporate fans who will buy those tickets … and deserve them more.

The same principle would apply in other parts of the arena.

As for the student section, that’s easy. Simply require that people show their student ID to get into the arena. The observer was under the impression that identification was already a requirement. If the ticket holder is not a UofL student, sorry, go watch the game on TV.

With games at Lexington in both football and basketball next season, UofL has two years to resolve the issue.

Don’t put it on a back burner. Violators should feel the impact next year.

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By Charlie Springer

Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.

20 thoughts on “Loyalty should be a factor in allocating season tickets”
  1. I used my Student season ticket to cheer on the cards against UK. However, I must admit that at least one of my Big East game tickets against a ranked team will be going up on ebay. I have very little money and the sale of this ticket will pay for next seasons tickets. My logic in this situation is that it is better to miss one game this year, rather that not being able to purchase tickets for next season. The cost of tickets may be much cheaper for us students, but the cost of everything else on campus is rapidly increasing. Hopefully a U of L fan gets my seat. If not they are going to hate themselves for siting in the middle of my fraternity.

  2. The season ticket holders at YUM should write down the numbers of the seats occuppied by people wearing blue and cheering for UK and turn them over to Gary Freidman. Another option would be for the Cardinal ticket holders tonight or an upcoming game mention to whoever is sitting there that they did appreciate or enjoy their guests last Friday.

    1. As I said earlier Gary couldn’t care less. The almighty dollar is at the top of the list. UofL isn’t the most profitable basketball program in the country by accident.

  3. Simple solution. If you are cheering for the visiting team, you must sit in the visiting team section. If no seats are available, then you are out of luck regardless of what your seating assignment says.

  4. I didn’t like to see so much Blue either.

    Several years ago I went to a Notre Dame vs. Nebraska football game in South Bend …when I entered the staduim, nearly 3/4 of the people were wearing Nebraska red! It was awful.

    I guess when you purchase a ticket, you can do what you want with it and cheer for whichever team you’d like.

    I think the BIGGER question is what constituents a good fan. I’m sure we’ve all seen Duke fans jumping up and down the whole game….you didn’t see that at Freedom Hall and at the Yum! Center….I think students should be in the lower level around the court. But they don’t get the good seats because corporations and 50+ crowd are paying big money for the tix so they can SIT and watch the game.

    And since we’re talking about enthusiasm, I STILL have a problem with our Cardinal bird. Please watch him (or her) during the game — 75% of the time his laying underneath the basket with his arm holding up his head. What’s up with that??? He needs to take a page out of the St. Joseph’s Hawk book…the Hawk is ALWAYS moving his arms up and down..the entire game…during timeouts, halftime etc…we need more enthusiasm from our mascot EVERY game before dissing fans for selling one game ticket for $500.

    1. Steve, I agree with 90% of what you say, except for the Duke part. That jumping up and down is a little silly when imitated by other student bodies. Good for Duke, but comes off as copycatting by others.

      1. As a UofL fan who doesn’t have season tickets, I have talked with season ticket holding fans who have been screwed over by having to make outrageous increases in donations, only to be rewarded with rotten seats. Keep the corporate seats up high. They will still sell. Charlie, as far as Duke fans go, I don’t think anyone would worry if fans got off their rump and showed more enthusiasm.

  5. I Will say this, I had several UK fans offer me more than 500bucks a pop for our seats. I of course did the right thing and showed them the nearest sports bar where they can watch the game :). I know people were offering as much as 250 bucks to students for their tickets, that does go along way to paying for books… yet the cost of giving your seats to a UK fan is a high price to pay at any cost benefit.

  6. i assume Rick Robey is a season ticket holder? I saw him at the Morgan State game. Anyway why should he or anyone else not be eligible to have season tickets and cheer on Kentucky? I am sure respects the Cardinals as well as the Cats, Anyway I think if you get the opportunity to cheer on your team whether it be in Louisville or Lexington you should have that choice.

    1. John, logic has no place in this argument. If this is the John I know, you are one of the better UK fans so we will grant you a pardon, an exemption if you will for being a good person. One who doesn’t take this stuff too seriously and can keep things in perspective. In fact, I’m going to make you an honorary U of L fan for being such an upstanding guy. 😉

  7. The only sure fire way to reduce UK fans at the annual UL-UK game is for UL to be an odds-on favorite, several years in a row, and actually win it. You don’t see a lot of UK fans at the UK-Tenn football games in Knoxville.

    When UL wins UK fans don’t want to be there. Until then, they are like insects, they hide in the cracks and crevices. And come out at the most inopportune moments.

      1. Thanks for the kudos, Steve. I was trying to figure a way of getting “Roaches” into the conversation. But it just didn’t fit. (Like the way I got UK fans=Roaches into the conversation, anyway? Thanks for the opening, Steve :))

  8. Isn’t a ticket broker a proud sponser of Cardinal Athletics? What message does that send? Can’t have it both ways!

    1. Uncle Danny, you have a point. But I doubt the tickets in the lower arena are being sold by a ticket broker. Probably more of a case of U of L fans being outranked in the corporate structure, or customers being given preference over employees.

      Could be, too, that many of the seats in the lower bowl are occupied by ambitious people, some of whom got there by climbing over others in the workplace, that they could not care less about harming the image of the program and are once again pursuing the almighty buck.

      However, if the ticket broker has become an issue or anyway contributes to the problem, we need to say thanks but no thanks and send them on their way.

      At any rate, the problem/challenge needs to be resolved, using whatever levels of creativity are required.

  9. Two points.

    The first is I know a lot of UofL season ticket holders who went to UK. They pull for UofL 363 days of the year, but definitely not the other two.

    The second is I predicted this in a conversation with Gary Friedman when I was complaining about the 56% increase in my donation to keep the same level of seats downtown as I have had since Freedom Hall opened. I told him as the cost gets higher and higher more and more tickets would be owned by businesses and they would use them for their customers. And if their customers are good UofL fans those customers already have tickets so the odds are the guests or recipients would be UK fans. He didn’t believe me.

    I told him about the Timberwolf study that explained why the lower level was so empty for home games when they weren’t playing marquee opponents while the upper level was pretty full. The answer was 70% of the lower level seats were held by businesses, not fans while the upper level was 99.2% fans. He didn’t believe me.

    I pointed out as the cost gets higher and higher more and more UofL fans will NEED to sell their tickets biannually to offset the cost. He didn’t believe me.

    So one can say the KFC chickens have come home to roost.

  10. One thing I was struck by as a first year ticket holder is the number of fans with UL season tickets who wear blue and root for UK in that game. I know two people who do it and a friend that I spoke to in the Spirit Room prior to the game said that there are a number of those in her section. Anyone else notice this as well? Was this a big problem in Freedom Hall?

    I’ve never understood those who claim to root for both teams. I don’t see how that is possible.

  11. Good ideas, Charlie, except for the student tickets. I’m assuming students can still purchase guest tickets — that was an option when I was in school. Just as a for-instance, a U of L student should be allowed to bring a significant other who attends Bellarmine, or a younger sibling or child.

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