On 12/3/2023 at 2:30 PM, VF111 said:

The Saturday evening game is a rough time slot. They need to make that the 6A game every year since it will almost 100% have two schools from Louisville-area/Lexington in it.

Kroger is just an empty stadium as well. Poor facility all around. Both UofL and WKU are significantly nicer venues.

The Lynn Family soccer stadium in Louisville would be the perfect venue--holds 15K.

The first year it rained all week and the last three games were played on a mud covered, slippery, sloppy mess of a field...everyone would be complaining about how stupid the KHSAA was for playing at a grass soccer stadium.

I for the life of me don't understand the hand wringing over empty seats. I'd think people would enjoy having some room to spread out and not be packed shoulder to shoulder like sardines.

37 minutes ago, Jumper_Dad said:

The first year it rained all week and the last three games were played on a mud covered, slippery, sloppy mess of a field...everyone would be complaining about how stupid the KHSAA was for playing at a grass soccer stadium.

I for the life of me don't understand the hand wringing over empty seats. I'd think people would enjoy having some room to spread out and not be packed shoulder to shoulder like sardines.

Couldn't agree with you more over the seats and Lexington is as centrally located in the state as you could possibly get. So unless KHSAA wants to build their own venue, I think Kroger Field is hands down the best choice.

21 hours ago, FrankNicodemus said:

I wonder how the attendance would be different if they didn't put 2 hours breaks in between the games so "maybe" you keep the fans that are there just to watch High School football to stay to watch more games....Instead of cleaning house and making everyone re-enter the gates every single game....

Sometimes 4 hours isn’t enough time between starting times. In 2009 Lone Oak - Boyle Co game started at 11:00 AM and wasn’t over until almost 3:00. Granted the game was high scoring and went into OT, you never know how long a game will last. The teams & fans for the 3:00 game couldn’t get into the stadium until the 11:00 game was over. 

In 2016 at WKU, they had teams getting dressed in the baseball hitting facility, that didn’t have restrooms or running water, and also in the basketball arena, that’s a good 2-3 minute walk. 
 

Unless WKU has addressed the locker room issues, no way it should be moved back there. 

22 hours ago, FrankNicodemus said:

I wonder how the attendance would be different if they didn't put 2 hours breaks in between the games so "maybe" you keep the fans that are there just to watch High School football to stay to watch more games....Instead of cleaning house and making everyone re-enter the gates every single game....

I used to do this at Old Cardinal Stadium and it was great!  Paid one ticket and stayed all day!  Saw some great games.  All about the $$$$$$.  I'm sure UK charges them quite a bit.

The main reason it is in Lexington is so that the KHSAA officials can have it in their home town.  The atmosphere at WKU or similarly-sized stadiums is significantly better.

Bottom line - if you are fortunate enough to be playing in the game, you really don't care where it is.  I would gladly play the game in the parking lot if I were playing or coaching in a championship game.  The debate of venue is just for the rest of us.

I have been a spectator or participant at state championship games at Old Cardinal Stadium, the stadium formerly known as Papa Johns, WKU, and UK.  In all of them in which I participated, it was awesome to be there.  When I was sitting in the stands, I just wanted to be on the field.  It didn't matter to me if it was a cow pasture or a Taj Mahal.

10 hours ago, Purple88 said:

I used to do this at Old Cardinal Stadium and it was great!  Paid one ticket and stayed all day!  Saw some great games.  All about the $$$$$$.  I'm sure UK charges them quite a bit.

Agree it’s all about the money.  Who gets concessions? From my perspective, I’m prob never going to sit through 2 or 3 football games in December barring super nice weather or crazy match ups.  What I would do if attending a specific game, is catch the 2nd half of the previous game or the 1st half of the next game.  In that case, I’m likely to spend at the concession out of necessity.   Would you rather get $30 out of the consumer because they spent a little at the concession on top of a single game ticket they exploited for 1.5 games? Or $17 for one game ticket?  Very few people are going to spend $17x2 or 3 for a ticket to watch multiple games. If you have a kid or two with you multiply that by another 2 or 3.  

14 hours ago, Jumper_Dad said:

I for the life of me don't understand the hand wringing over empty seats. I'd think people would enjoy having some room to spread out and not be packed shoulder to shoulder like sardines.

We all have games that we were a part of where the atmosphere was electric and we still talk about "10 deep around the track" or "not an empty seat in the place 30-minutes before kickoff" or a "hostile environment where the opponent fans were right on top of you". 

We all got a small taste of that in 2010 when Allen and Boyle faced off at WKU and for the Finals the place was as amped as could be. 

Nobody, and I both played and coached in Finals, remembers anything about the "atmosphere" of the Finals in PJCS or Kroger. Completely empty stadiums, zero crowd influence, and amenities that are the same as you could get at Barren Co. 

26 minutes ago, VF111 said:

We all have games that we were a part of where the atmosphere was electric and we still talk about "10 deep around the track" or "not an empty seat in the place 30-minutes before kickoff" or a "hostile environment where the opponent fans were right on top of you". 

We all got a small taste of that in 2010 when Allen and Boyle faced off at WKU and for the Finals the place was as amped as could be. 

Nobody, and I both played and coached in Finals, remembers anything about the "atmosphere" of the Finals in PJCS or Kroger. Completely empty stadiums, zero crowd influence, and amenities that are the same as you could get at Barren Co. 

You're never going to get that 10 deep feeling in the finals no matter where they are held.

Yeah, it would be great to fill whatever stadium the games are played at. But 7,000 people are 7,000 people regardless if there are 15,000 empty seats behind them or 45,000. The fans always move down close to the field anyway, so they are sitting roughly the same distance from the teams regardless where the games are played.

If you're playing or coaching in the finals, I'd think your biggest memories would be from what happens on the field...not behind you in the stands.

47 minutes ago, VF111 said:

We all have games that we were a part of where the atmosphere was electric and we still talk about "10 deep around the track" or "not an empty seat in the place 30-minutes before kickoff" or a "hostile environment where the opponent fans were right on top of you". 

We all got a small taste of that in 2010 when Allen and Boyle faced off at WKU and for the Finals the place was as amped as could be. 

Nobody, and I both played and coached in Finals, remembers anything about the "atmosphere" of the Finals in PJCS or Kroger. Completely empty stadiums, zero crowd influence, and amenities that are the same as you could get at Barren Co. 

Definitely the best state championship game I’ve attended, was very electric. 

On 12/3/2023 at 8:27 PM, 9068 said:

Could it be that Lexington is the home of the KHSAA office and for administration they would be closer to home? Years ago potential host sites submitted a bid to host the games. I would assume that is still the case.

This right here is the reason it's at UK. It's also the same reason that just about every other state championship has moved to within 30 minutes of Lexington. KHSAA is not interested in traveling very far out of Lexington.