That's not terrible. But add in 4 nights' lodging (unless you can commute), 5 days' meals, and the cost for a family is more than a lot of folks can probably stand.

 

Yes, we spend about $500 every year and then they added the Sunday game. We go to Saturday night and come home after the games. Have not been to the finals since. The people I go with, we have actually discussed about going to the SEC tourney instead. I have gone every year since the mid eighties.

One sure way to accomplish absolutely nothing is to "form a committee".

That's not terrible. But add in 4 nights' lodging (unless you can commute), 5 days' meals, and the cost for a family is more than a lot of folks can probably stand.

 

Aside from the extra night stay+food, was it that much cheaper to go 10+ years ago?? I'm guessing it was still a fairly expensive excursion even then, especially if you had a couple family members with you. If you wanted to go and see all the games and could afford it previously, I don't know that the extra couple hundred for the extra day lodging+food would prevent you from going.

 

Keep in mind the following thoughts are coming from someone not from KY.

 

I think there are quite a few things that are just simply beyond the KHSAA's control. Part of it is I think with the decline of local youth sports and the rise of AAU/Travel ball, kids are getting out of basketball at an earlier age. Declining participation at the youth level, leads to less fans as those kids turn into adults and less parents having connections to a local team. Add in the rise of other sports, more entertainment choices, the opportunity to watch online (although at a price now) have all contributed to decline in attendance.

 

Another thing to consider, is that it's tough to give up a almost a weeks vacation to take in a high school basketball tourney. I like basketball. But I'm not giving up a week of vacation to watch the tourney, unless I have a kid playing. If my local school made it , I might make a game or two, and would certainly make the finals. But I'm not going to watch a bunch of teams I have no connection too, and I don't know anyone in my circle of friends that would.

 

Finally, with how transient society has become, there are lots of people who have moved into KY (like myself) that have no connection to the past, who may never go. And then you'll have many people who grew up in KY that have moved out, that can't go.

 

Lot's of factors, and no easy fixes. I think the biggest thing that influences attendance is the teams that are playing, and that's the one thing the KHSAA has zero control over.

Different economic factors have hurt, 5 days instead of 4 have probably discouraged a lot of people from going because they can't stay for the whole tournament I'd say has hurt.

Aside from the extra night stay+food, was it that much cheaper to go 10+ years ago?? I'm guessing it was still a fairly expensive excursion even then, especially if you had a couple family members with you. If you wanted to go and see all the games and could afford it previously, I don't know that the extra couple hundred for the extra day lodging+food would prevent you from going.

 

Keep in mind the following thoughts are coming from someone not from KY.

 

I think there are quite a few things that are just simply beyond the KHSAA's control. Part of it is I think with the decline of local youth sports and the rise of AAU/Travel ball, kids are getting out of basketball at an earlier age. Declining participation at the youth level, leads to less fans as those kids turn into adults and less parents having connections to a local team. Add in the rise of other sports, more entertainment choices, the opportunity to watch online (although at a price now) have all contributed to decline in attendance.

 

Another thing to consider, is that it's tough to give up a almost a weeks vacation to take in a high school basketball tourney. I like basketball. But I'm not giving up a week of vacation to watch the tourney, unless I have a kid playing. If my local school made it , I might make a game or two, and would certainly make the finals. But I'm not going to watch a bunch of teams I have no connection too, and I don't know anyone in my circle of friends that would.

 

Finally, with how transient society has become, there are lots of people who have moved into KY (like myself) that have no connection to the past, who may never go. And then you'll have many people who grew up in KY that have moved out, that can't go.

 

Lot's of factors, and no easy fixes. I think the biggest thing that influences attendance is the teams that are playing, and that's the one thing the KHSAA has zero control over.

 

Lets also remember that 10 years ago, if you wanted to know what happened at the games, you had to go to them and watch. Today all you have to do is get on BGP to find out.

What was the attendance for championship game? I would almost bet the Dunbar/Mercer game had better attendance. Seed the teams and let the underdogs prevail as they do in NCAA. It just doesn't make sense to me having two favorites play in opening round.

What was the attendance for championship game? I would almost bet the Dunbar/Mercer game had better attendance. Seed the teams and let the underdogs prevail as they do in NCAA. It just doesn't make sense to me having two favorites play in opening round.

 

10,091

Seeding is not going to happen. No system in place.

 

In my opinion even if you seeded it would not help with attendance. It might make the 1st round even less attended.

Please bring back the sat championship!!

I think the NCAA tournament is the biggest factor. The first four days of the tourney are the best TV days of the year. I know several people that take vacation days for Thursday and Friday so they can watch all day. If the choice is driving to Lexington for a Sweet 16 game or staying home and watching 4 NCAA tourney games in my recliner on tv, then I'm probably staying home. I think going to games in general, of any kind, is getting harder to justify. I see the games better at home, eat better, am more comfortable and it's cheaper.

I think the NCAA tournament is the biggest factor. The first four days of the tourney are the best TV days of the year. I know several people that take vacation days for Thursday and Friday so they can watch all day. If the choice is driving to Lexington for a Sweet 16 game or staying home and watching 4 NCAA tourney games in my recliner on tv, then I'm probably staying home. I think going to games in general, of any kind, is getting harder to justify. I see the games better at home, eat better, am more comfortable and it's cheaper.

 

This is how I feel. We live in a connected world, and you can't do that at the S16(with AT&T anyways). It's like when they took away the hard copy S16 program. It was always done really well, then made it digital but you have no access to it once you're at the games unless you've downloaded it, then you're trying to read a book off a small phone. That's when the S16 started going downhill in my opinion. If Tackett can sit and diddle around on his computer for a night session game, then why can't the common fan? I know that sounds counterproductive to the game, but I could stream NCAA games/scores easier, but I like to keep up with BPreps threads, Twitter accounts, live stats, commentary etc.. that would help the S16 experience for a common fan in my experience I'd look into going more regularly.

As long as the Sweet 16 is on the same weekend as NCAA opening weekend, attendance will struggle. Especially when UK or UofL are playing. The teams in the Sweet 16 also play a huge factor.

Seeding is not going to happen. No system in place.

 

In my opinion even if you seeded it would not help with attendance. It might make the 1st round even less attended.

 

Ahhh...someone finally see's it...the rule of "unintended consequences". Seed the tournament and I guarantee at least a couple of the first round sessions will have almost no "casual fans" there, which is what they are looking to increase. No one would have showed up for a first round game of Buckhorn vs Mercer. Which, with the blind draw is possible to get that as well, but we didn't. We got Mercer vs Dunbar, a GREAT first round game that adds drama, intrigue and quite frankly means a WHOOOOOOOOOOOOLE lot.

I hope the KHSAA isn't going to spend thousands of dollars on the "committee"...cause they will probably never recoup the money if they do.

 

It's been said on here to death already...high school basketball just isn't as important as it once was here in the Comonwealth, and it probably never will be, at least not consistently or anywhere near what it used to be. And you can see it during the regular season...1/2 to 3/4 empty gyms, even on a Friday/Saturday night with two good teams going at it. Sad really. Plus, again as said numerous times already, you have UK and Louisville games, lot's of other "attractions" dividing peoples time that you just didn't have even 10 years ago, and almost instant access to game updates if you actually do have some interest in the games.

 

Now, could some things be "tweaked" that could help raise the numbers some? Possibly. But unless this committee is going to work for free, I don't think any possible small increase in numbers (that probably wouldn't be sustainable anyway) is going to be able to offset a big payout to a research committee.

Amen to this brother! I have been saying this for years! Don't know if it would actually help state tournament attendance, and really can't see how it would, but it's the way it should be set up IMO.

 

Trivette has a plan he believes could breathe new life into Kentucky high school basketball. His proposal would restructure the path teams travel to reach the Sweet Sixteen and is designed to make the regular season more consequential.

 

Now, you essentially have 64 districts of mostly four teams (20 districts have more than four teams; four have fewer) feeding into 16 regional tournaments of eight teams each.

Trivette wants to keep the Sweet Sixteen format and the 16 regions. But he wants those regions to have two eight-team districts. In his proposal, those eight-team districts would be mandated to play round-robin in the regular season, then the district tourneys would be seeded.

Read more here: Mark Story: How worried should we be about the boys’ Sweet Sixteen? | Lexington Herald-Leader