Finals attendance down

[The Scribe]

Three of the four classes saw a decrease in attendance compared to last year.

 

1A - 4,396 (was 4,709 last year)

 

2A - 6,814 (was 7,726 last year)

 

3A - 7,379 (was 5,875 last year)

 

4A - 10,623 (was 21,424 last year)

 

Total - 29,212 (was 39,734 last year

 

 

Attendance was over 48,000 in 2003.

[stick1]

Layout was bad but the weather was flat crazy! It was 73 in Eastern KY this morning and 35 in Louisville at the same time or at least that's what the weather station said. I watched the siding fly off of a neighbors new house in Lexington. It was a nice crib probably $200,000+ and about a month old. The wind was awful here!

[EastSideJunkie]

Yes, and rememebr those are "announced" figures.

 

If there were 10,000 fans at the 4-A game then I'm going to be Britney Spears' new beau! And that's not happening.

 

Seriously, the 4-A game is the draw and when only about 6,000 fans show up (yes, rain hurt a lot) then it's going to be a bad year.

 

Imagine the money the KHSAA lost this weekend!

[SuperShamrocks]

there was nowhere near 10,000 at the 4-A game *L*...There were more people at the Male vs Trinity game in round 3

[Sting]

I think going up against our local NFL team Thursday night really hurt the 4A championship numbers. I knew quite a few people at the Bengals game who would have definitely been at the Ryle/Trinitiy game if it was on a diffferent day.

[cch5432]

Uh.....I'm going to sound like a jerk, but I am so proud that 3A's attendance went up and honestly I believe that is due largely to the fact that CovCath was in the finals and their fans travel so well. Congrats to the Colonel Crazies!

[westsider]

Having the finals on Thursday and Friday (instead of Friday and Saturday) didn't help, either.

 

Nevertheless, A-2A-3A were even with last year. All the difference is in the 4A attendance.

 

Let's face it ... a Trinity-Male final probably would have doubled attendance, at the very least, for the 4A final. And this would probably have never been a topic.

[westsider]

If there were 10,000 fans at the 4-A game then I'm going to be Britney Spears' new beau! And that's not happening.

Britney's done worse. :lol:

 

Besides, we would hate to lose you.

[Getslow]

This can't possibly have been unexpected.

 

Terrible weather + thursday/friday games + lopsided 4A matchup

= lower attendance

[BareRock]

This can't possibly have been unexpected.

 

Terrible weather + thursday/friday games + lopsided 4A matchup

= lower attendance

mega dittos my friend !

[REDDEVILMVP'06]

Couple things ... Whoever manages the traffic for these events did a terrible job ... realistically no one managed the traffic

 

Traffic around PJ's ( coming and going) for last two years was at a standstill for very small number of people , especially this year... Our band got into the stadium late into the second quarter ...

 

I routinely attend games in the Horseshoe where traffic moves much faster for over 100,000 ....

 

This frustration likely leads to people staying home , it will me from now on ...

 

Also games during the workweek ... Can't move the venue , when the Cards are at home ... Nothing going on in Lexington or Richmond

[scooterbob]

If the Class 4-A game had been played on any night (or day) with Trinity vs. St. Xavier, Trinity vs. Male, or St. Xavier vs. Male, the crowd would have been equal to or higher than last year. The other three games, thanks to CovCath, exceeded last year's total attendance, using the above figures, by 279. If those games could have been played on Saturday, the figures would have been higher.

 

The reason for the poor total attendance is the lack of a marque matchup in Class 4-A. I believe one of the real matchups would have drawn well over 20,000 if it were played Wednesday at midnight. It seems to this Eastern Kentuckian that KHSAA had better do a little reshuffling in its highest class. Louisville matchups bring the crowd and the real excitement which, in turn, brings the needed dollars to help operate the organization.

[LSURock]

The weather and the Thur/Fri schedule killed the attendance this year. Could there have been a higher profile match-up in 4A? Sure, but that can't happen every year. The weather and schedule eliminated all but the diehard fans of each team. No casual high school football fan sits in the rain on a work/school night to watch the 4A final. No casual fan braves temp.s in the 20s with 30-40 MPH winds to watch 2A,1A and 3A on a weekday. I was at the 2A game and planned to stay for the 1A contest. When the 2A concluded we had a two hour break before the 1A kickoff. Sorry, I went home with the intention of returning for the 3A at least. An hour prior to the 7:30 kickoff I couldn't talk myself into going back into the blast freezer. My attendance was down, and it had nothing to do with the match-ups.

[midee1]

Couple things ... Whoever manages the traffic for these events did a terrible job ... realistically no one managed the traffic

 

Traffic around PJ's ( coming and going) for last two years was at a standstill for very small number of people , especially this year

 

 

I came in at about 10:30-10:45 and drove straight into the stadiums overflow parking lot. All I had to do was walk thru the tunnel and across the parking lot to the stadium. I took the right at the exit and followed traffic till it came to a stand still. I then turned back around and went in the way I did last year. After you came off the exit at 265 you took and immediate left and it takes the back road to the stadium. No wait at all.

[lionfan13]

If good attendance is what the KHSAA wants, then move the games to "normal" high school times, such as Friday and Saturday nights. I would love to have went to the Russell game but 11:30 am? GEEZZZ! What about the working people?