Rupp Arena
RuppArena.JPG
Rupp Arena is an arena located in downtown Lexington, Kentucky, USA. It is the centerpiece of Lexington Center, a convention and shopping facility owned by an arm of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, Lexington's consolidated city-county government.
The arena's primary tenant is the men's basketball program of the University of Kentucky; it also formerly hosted the Kentucky Thoroughblades (currently the Cleveland Barons) and the Lexington Men O' War minor-league hockey teams, and continues to host numerous concerts, conventions, and other events. It is named after UK coaching legend Adolph Rupp, and opened in 1976, a little more than a year before Rupp's death in late 1977.
The arena has an official capacity of 23,000, but has packed in over 24,000 for many UK basketball games. This is possible because only about one-third of the seating consists of chair-back seats, all of them in the lower seating bowl. The upper bowl is completely made up of bleachers. Unlike many arenas built in the following years, it has no luxury suites, and has never been renovated to add them; the demand for UK basketball tickets is so overwhelming that adding suites would inevitably reduce the capacity and possibly lead to a fan backlash. It has a deserved reputation as one of the most intimidating venues for opposing teams in college basketball.
Trivia
- The ceremonial first basket in the new facility was sunk by Adolph's young grandson Chip (Adolph III), who ironically went on to play college basketball at Southeastern Conference (SEC) rival Vanderbilt.
- The UK men are the only basketball program in the SEC that plays its home games in an off-campus facility. All of the other programs play on-campus, including the UK women, who play in the men's former home of Memorial Coliseum.