These sites are chosen through a bid process. UK and WKU were the only ones that put in a bid. You can't pick a place that doesn't have an interest.

 

I am willing to bet, though, that Lexington couldn't match Bowling Green in hotel prices. When our team went a couple years ago, KHSAA gave our team hotel to us for $52/night. No way you can get that in Lexington without staying in a hotel where you have to keep one eye open all night.

 

At $52 a night I imagine that hotel was cutting the team(s) a really nice deal. It's hard to find a decent hotel anywhere for less than $100 a night. Even here in Ashland there are a few hotels/motels that you could get for that price, but as you said you'd need to sleep with one eye open, hell there was a shooting at one of them last night. Anything that I would recommend to anyone in the Ashland area would be in the $100-125 range per night, so it sounds like you're team just happened to get a really good deal to help fill the hotel up.

Short answer is yes, haha. For what it's worth, I was actually in Lexington during the JC/FS game, but I was at Rupp Arena rather than Kroger Field. Had my Tomcat's been playing, I would have went to the 4A game. So I guess as others have mentioned, the UK game as well as the conference championships could have kept some of the casual fans that would have went either at home watching their tv's or at the UK basketball game.

 

Fair enough..being a non Kentucky native, I still haven't completely grasped UK basketball. That being said, if you are a die hard UK fan, and UK-Harvard is must see for you, there's probably very little that anyone could do to convince you to attend a HS State Football Championship game, and you're probably a little less than even a casual fan.

Fair enough..being a non Kentucky native, I still haven't completely grasped UK basketball. That being said, if you are a die hard UK fan, and UK-Harvard is must see for you, there's probably very little that anyone could do to convince you to attend a HS State Football Championship game, and you're probably a little less than even a casual fan.

 

I'm a little more than a casual fan, I bought the package to be able to stream the games online as well, so I can still watch the games anytime I want. But if I'm in Lexington and UK basketball is playing and my favorite high school team is not, I'm going to the UK game. Trust me, I love high school football but with the technology available today you can pretty much watch any sporting event without being there, including this weekends state championship games. That technology is also why UK basketball's attendance is down 15% this so far this season, which is unheard of.

These sites are chosen through a bid process. UK and WKU were the only ones that put in a bid. You can't pick a place that doesn't have an interest.

 

I am willing to bet, though, that Lexington couldn't match Bowling Green in hotel prices. When our team went a couple years ago, KHSAA gave our team hotel to us for $52/night. No way you can get that in Lexington without staying in a hotel where you have to keep one eye open all night.

 

Tackett said the biggest concern is the cost of the UK facility, which is “$60,000 to $70,000 more than it was in Bowling Green.”

 

How in the world did UK win the bid?

From what I understand, KHSAA negotiates the deals with the hotels. We got that rate because that's what they gave KHSAA for the teams staying. I'm sure the chamber of commerce in Bowling Green helped broker these relationships.

 

In Lexington, they don't need the business as much so hotels probably have a little more leverage on prices. Also, I believe that KHSAA doesn't supply hotels for teams less than 40 miles away. So, less hotels were probably needed this year.

Tackett said the biggest concern is the cost of the UK facility, which is “$60,000 to $70,000 more than it was in Bowling Green.”

 

How in the world did UK win the bid?

 

They sold 15600 more tickets at $13+ per ticket. The KHSAA should have made a lot more money.

I understand that 'after the fact.' I think this year's weather and team demographics played a big part in the uptick in attendance.

My question is how they won the bid in the first place. Isn't the purpose of a bid mostly about money? I seriously don't know, just from my own work experience.

Tackett said the biggest concern is the cost of the UK facility, which is “$60,000 to $70,000 more than it was in Bowling Green.”

 

How in the world did UK win the bid?

 

Did Western bid? I was under the impression they had to pull out due to potential conflicts with C-USA championship games (and the issues that arose the last two years). It might have been more that UK was the only option instead of UK winning the bid.

I understand that 'after the fact.' I think this year's weather and team demographics played a big part in the uptick in attendance.

My question is how they won the bid in the first place. Isn't the purpose of a bid mostly about money? I seriously don't know, just from my own work experience.

 

Demographics are almost always going to be in favor of Lexington as the location. Probably close to two-thirds of the state population is within a couple of hours of Lexington.

Did Western bid? I was under the impression they had to pull out due to potential conflicts with C-USA championship games (and the issues that arose the last two years). It might have been more that UK was the only option instead of UK winning the bid.

 

WKU still bid. I do think Conference USA championship game was the deciding factor. KHSAA didn't want to play the wait and see game. Hard to blame them for that.

WKU still bid. I do think Conference USA championship game was the deciding factor. KHSAA didn't want to play the wait and see game. Hard to blame them for that.

 

I gotcha. I remember now their bid included the championship game stipulation. I can certainly understand why the KHSAA wanted to avoid that complication.

Demographics are almost always going to be in favor of Lexington as the location. Probably close to two-thirds of the state population is within a couple of hours of Lexington.

 

Awhile back, I looked up all of the location info for the 3 main sites, and what the travel distance would have been for every state finals for roughly the last 10 years. And, while I don't remember the exact numbers, I do remember that Bowling Green was the "closest" location for 1 year, Louisville was for 1 year, and Lexington was for the rest of the time. Even the years Lexington was the best option, it was always a really close 2nd.

For comparison Pennsylvania just moved to 6 classes last year, and they only drew 14,127 for the whole weekend, pretty low for what is known as a football state.

For comparison Pennsylvania just moved to 6 classes last year, and they only drew 14,127 for the whole weekend, pretty low for what is known as a football state.

 

Aren't the Pennsylvania games shown on basic cable?

They are shown statewide on their version of KET...HD quality really well done