[EKUAlum05]

As for the arena itself, UK is handicapped with the lease with Rupp.

One solution is to buy out the remainder of the lease, but that is not economically feasible.

There are already "nicer" arenas out there beyond Rupp, Pitt's arena immediately comes to mind. I think as long as UK continues to lead the nation in attendance it won't break the administration's and the fans' hearts. UL can have the nicer arena until 2015, it isn't like they will come close to competing with UK for the attendance crown. Freedom Hall is a dead zone unless the Cards are playing a marquee game. Heck, look at football for example. UL is planning to expand their stadium but last year there were games when UL probably was lucky to have a half full stadium as it is. UL banks too much on their fairweather fans, coupled with the "Little Brother" complex they have in order to try to have better facilities then UK even if it is not economically sensible.

It is not so much about UK competing with UL for facilities, it is about doing what's best economically to benefit the UK athletics department. Personally, I would rather first see UK invest money into renovating some football facilities first as they badly need some assistance with the weght room and the aesthetic value of Commonwealth, plus you would probably see an immediate return on the investment. Once the lease with Rupp is up, then UK will go full bore at building a new basketball arena, and once they build it you can rest assured it will be in a class all to itself.