From Joe Angolia of the KHSAA:

 

Attendance for today’s championship game of the 2013 KHSAA Boys’ Sweet 16® is 17,315 which is the highest total since 2008 when Mason County defeated Holmes. That brings the weekly total to 123,363 which is the highest attendance figure for a Boys’ Sweet 16® since 2009.

 

The average attendance for the week is 15,420 fans per session (compared to 13,221 in 2012).

Over 20,000 at the semis on Saturday night broke the record for that round. I think those figures will make this format stick.

Last years tournament was one of the worst ones and this year was a very good one. I think that does a lot to help with attendance. Also Central and MoCo being in the semis helped a ton.

Nice attendance numbers for the semis. Was that due to the new format or teams involved? Anyone know what the Rupp fee is for the additional day? If the KHSAA cuts the budget for programs can we actually expect them to pay for an extra day of rent?

My idea would be to approach the Convention and Visitors bureau of Lexington to put up some $$$ as by having the game on Sunday, it had to help their businesses!

MoCo and Madison Central definitely helped with the attendance. I was hoping for a MoCo vs Madison Central championship, i know all of Montgomery County would have been in Rupp.

Like it or not, the Sunday final was a boon.

 

I liked it.

Like it or not, the Sunday final was a boon.

 

I liked it.

 

We need to see how it goes when it's a WKY team playing an EKY team from the mountains. How many will show up on a Sunday afternoon?

 

It might be a boon but the two teams playing were a bigger contributor IMO.

We need to see how it goes when it's a WKY team playing an EKY team from the mountains. How many will show up on a Sunday afternoon?

 

It might be a boon but the two teams playing were a bigger contributor IMO.

 

I agree. Final four crowd was helped by Central and Montgomery county being in it.

We need to see how it goes when it's a WKY team playing an EKY team from the mountains. How many will show up on a Sunday afternoon?

 

It might be a boon but the two teams playing were a bigger contributor IMO.

Nope, Ballard had no fans outside parents and the student section.

I agree. Final four crowd was helped by Central and Montgomery county being in it.

Thats very true.

Nope, Ballard had no fans outside parents and the student section.

 

That's surprising. My comment was not aimed just at their fans though. I think it brought a lot of fans to the game who might not have attended. I would have had I been in town. That wouldn't have been the case if Hoptown was in the finals.

We need to see how it goes when it's a WKY team playing an EKY team from the mountains. How many will show up on a Sunday afternoon?

 

It might be a boon but the two teams playing were a bigger contributor IMO.

 

Depends on which WKY team is involved. Grayson Co had a HUGE crowd there and they had the longest travel. To be honest I was surprised in the crowd they brought. Then you had Hop-town and they had a small crowd, compared to the others. I was surprised that PRP didn't even bring their band. Only team that didn't have one there.

 

Like Doc, I too liked the new format.

Nope, Ballard had no fans outside parents and the student section.

 

 

That's the norm for most Louisville schools since they aren't communities like the county schools. The difference in time plus the schools involved were the key to huge crowds.

The main thing folks should look at is the fact that a ton of people were able to see the SFs. Most years, the SFs contain the best games, and the finals are a dud because of the tight turnaround.

 

Obviously, the wins by Christian Co. and Holmes were fantastic games, but they are the exception rather than the rule. More often than not, the finals stink, and I often find it easy to skip.

 

This year, the quality if play in the finals was great, and having two fresh teams in it was a factor. Most years that's not the case, and the lack of rest accounts for that lack of quality.