Just some random numbers about the state finals, because I mean, who doesn't like stats and numbers?

Under the current 6 class format, in 17 seasons (2007-2023), there have only been 5 games with 10,000+ fans in attendance. Those games were in 2007 (Trinity and St. X) and 2008 (Trinity and Simon Kenton) in 6A, 2017 (Covington Catholic and Madison Southern) in 5A, 2010 (Boyle County and Allen County-Scottsvile) in 4A and 2017 (Boyle County and Corbin) in 3A. Does any game have the potential this year? The numbers say probably not. 

The lowest attended game during that stretch was 2,997 for the 2013 (Highlands and Collins) 4A game. The highest was 15,696 in the 2007 (Trinity and St. X) 6A game. The most total attendance for all classes was in 2017, with a total of 52,796, including 2 of those 5 10,000+ games.

If you go back to the 84-06 time frame with 4 classes, the most attended game was in the 2003 (Trinity and St. X) 4A game at 26,430. 2003 was also the most attended overall during that stretch with 46,687. The lowest in that time period was 2,559 in the 1984 (Hopkinsville and Danville) 3A game. 1993 was the lowest overall with 15,805.

You would assume that the weather plays a factor, probably good and bad in a significant amount of these games. Does anyone remember being at any of these and what happened to maybe cause a spike or a dip in a certain year? Any memories to share, not only related to these, but just overall that were maybe memorable in terms of attendance?

I think 1A, 2A, 3A, and 4A games will all have communities really show up. 

The 5A game continually getting stuck in the last time slot is ridiculous and in my opinion has a dramatically negative impact on the attendance of that game. 

The 6A game will have a great Ryle crowd. I imagine the Trinity crowd will be good but nothing out of the ordinary. 

Trinity will always have a big crowd. Big  school with lots of state titles and tradition. Past football players for Trinity will always come out to watch another potential state championship. 

The 2010 Boyle County vs. Allen County-Scottsville game had a big crowd mainly because it was held at WKU, about 30 minutes from Scottsville who was making their first and only state championship appearance. Seemed like half of the population of Allen County was there. Boyle County had a good turnout as well. I was there to see it and ACS had a 7-0 lead at the half until Lamar Dawson and company came back in the second half for the Boyle County win. 

The two games in 2017 probably had better attendance partly because of the finals moving to Kroger Field from WKU for the first time that year. Also Madison Southern made a rare finals appearance and are just about 30 minutes from Lexington. Boyle County also has a big following obviously. Covington Catholic was rolling that year with AJ Mayer. I was there for the first half of the 5A game which was just after the awesome Franklin-Simpson 4A title win vs. Johnson Central. 

Simply just bring the State Championship back to Bowling Green. I don’t want to hear about how UK has nice facilities, nobody cares. Teams are there to win a Championship and go back home. Why would you not want to put the event in a place where you can fill up 50% of the venue and create a fun atmosphere for the fans and players. Like @FSfan mentioned that ACS/Boyle was electric, I have family that was on that Patriots team and we still talk about how awesome that was to see from little ol’ Scottsville. 

19 hours ago, TheBallCoach said:

Simply just bring the State Championship back to Bowling Green. I don’t want to hear about how UK has nice facilities, nobody cares. Teams are there to win a Championship and go back home. Why would you not want to put the event in a place where you can fill up 50% of the venue and create a fun atmosphere for the fans and players. Like @FSfan mentioned that ACS/Boyle was electric, I have family that was on that Patriots team and we still talk about how awesome that was to see from little ol’ Scottsville. 

Only problem with Bowling Green is for Eastern KY its a long trip which hurts attendance, the event was better at WKU but the travel sucked.  KHSAA will never move it from Lexington, they could move it to EKU and have a smaller venue with easier travel for most of the state would really be the only option. I think Georgetown would be too small. 

19 hours ago, TheBallCoach said:

Simply just bring the State Championship back to Bowling Green. I don’t want to hear about how UK has nice facilities, nobody cares. Teams are there to win a Championship and go back home. Why would you not want to put the event in a place where you can fill up 50% of the venue and create a fun atmosphere for the fans and players. Like @FSfan mentioned that ACS/Boyle was electric, I have family that was on that Patriots team and we still talk about how awesome that was to see from little ol’ Scottsville. 

Western can't promise availability the first weekend in December. Conference USA plays their conference championship game at the top seeded team and if that was WKU, then that messes up the KHSAA schedule. The SEC title game is always in Atlanta so even if Kentucky made it to the championship game, it would have no effect on Kroger Field's availability.

The University of Louisville is under new management. Maybe now the City of Louisville and U of L could put together an offer the KHSAA can't refuse? 

I believe that the most attended games are going to be between 5A and 6A. The Louisville fans/supporters and others from there will come for Trinity, plenty will be in attendance from Boone County and other parts of NKY for Ryle and Cooper, and I’m sure a high amount of Bowling Green fans/supporters will be there too. With Boone County having two teams in both games and everyone else who could be there is why I think the 5A and 6A games will draw the bigger crowds.

The 4A championship game should have a big draw too. 

5 hours ago, gchs_uk9 said:

Western can't promise availability the first weekend in December. Conference USA plays their conference championship game at the top seeded team and if that was WKU, then that messes up the KHSAA schedule. The SEC title game is always in Atlanta so even if Kentucky made it to the championship game, it would have no effect on Kroger Field's availability.

This !!  Screwed everything up 2 years in a row I believe.  

On 12/2/2024 at 2:12 PM, TheBallCoach said:

Simply just bring the State Championship back to Bowling Green. I don’t want to hear about how UK has nice facilities, nobody cares. Teams are there to win a Championship and go back home. Why would you not want to put the event in a place where you can fill up 50% of the venue and create a fun atmosphere for the fans and players. Like @FSfan mentioned that ACS/Boyle was electric, I have family that was on that Patriots team and we still talk about how awesome that was to see from little ol’ Scottsville. 

Was there also.  It was incredible.  

I know it’s more of a drive from various parts of the state, but I did like it at WKU. I am more preferential to Louisville than Kroger Field too. And I agree about the points of the teams likely not caring, it’s more the fans and supporters likely.

10 hours ago, gchs_uk9 said:

Western can't promise availability the first weekend in December. Conference USA plays their conference championship game at the top seeded team and if that was WKU, then that messes up the KHSAA schedule. The SEC title game is always in Atlanta so even if Kentucky made it to the championship game, it would have no effect on Kroger Field's availability.

Should’ve never left the Sun Belt, but I saw yesterday they were still in search of a place to play their Conference Championship. Maybe it all worked out for the better, just believe WKU is the best overall location for the event. If the games were in Bowling Green this year I believe it would be the highest draw across all divisions in years.