Keady hopes arena sells out

By Doug Healey
Assistant Sports Editor

Purdue men's basketball coach Gene Keady can't figure out why the Boilermakers' home games in Mackey Arena haven't been sold out in recent years, but he wants that to change.

"We have a great tradition here. … There's not a bad seat in the house, and this team ought to be fun to watch. These are good kids, and they're the type of team that deserves to have a lot of people come out."

Cindy Bailey, the assistant ticket manager for Purdue athletics, said that as of Monday, 2,417 men's basketball student season tickets have been sold out of a possible 3,100 for the new student section. The new section, nicknamed "the Gene Pool," forms a wedge around the Boiler Brass pep band and extends behind the visiting team's bench.

In total, more than 11,600 season tickets have been sold for the 16 home men's basketball games, which start Nov. 5 when Purdue plays an international select team in 14,123-seat Mackey Arena.

Keady said the figures have more to do with the entertainment dollar than a lack of interest in Purdue athletics.

"Anymore, unless you have a Glenn Robinson or a Drew Brees, or somebody like that, the people will go elsewhere and watch," said Keady. "They'll go watch (Peyton) Manning, Reggie Miller or when Michael (Jordan) was playing in Chicago, they'll go spend their money there. If you take your family, that's a lot of money.

"I'm not giving excuses because we're working harder now for men's basketball to be promoted. We've never had to have advertisements in the paper before, but I think it's because of the fact that maybe we haven't finished as high in the NCAA (tournament)."

But Keady said he can't remember the last time all of the student section season tickets were sold out.

"The students have never bought out their section allotment — ever," said Keady. "But then when we start winning, they come in and buy them out, and then other people buy their seats."

Troubling ticket sales are not just evident at Purdue, Keady said. Kentucky is also struggling to sell season tickets for its student section. Keady said that's something he thought he'd never hear.

The timing of the schedule affects the attendance at basketball games also.

"A lot of it has to do with students being gone," said Keady. "The scheduling has to almost be perfect to get (Mackey) sold out all of the time because you have semester break and Thanksgiving Break.

"And sometimes our games aren't when I like them. I don’t want Saturday night games. I don't like that. I want Saturday afternoon games so our fans can get here and our students can have a social life of their own. It's one of those things that you can't control scheduling all the time. TV dictates that anymore."

Keady said students have the luxury to stay in their dorm rooms and watch whatever sport they want, which is different than how it used to be.

"It's just a different world now, where in the '80s here the Big Ten had the best TV package in the country," he said. "So that's all changed. Everybody has a great TV package now pretty much."

Bailey said that 3,700 season tickets have been sold for the women's basketball team, the 2001 national runners-up. That total is equal to the number sold last season. The women's first home game is Nov. 4 against the RTU Klondaika team.

Tickets can be purchased via the Internet at www.purduesports.com, by phone at (800) 49-SPORT or in the Purdue athletic ticket office, which is located in the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility Building. Season ticket packages for the men's games are $289 for the public, $232 for faculty and staff and $104 for students.

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SPORTS DESK PHONE:
(765) 743-1111 ext. 251

Sports editor:
Paul Trembacki

Assistant sports editor:
Doug Healey

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