On the stadium’s 50th anniversary, these are the most expensive seats at UK’s Kroger Field

Jon Hale
·4 min read

When Commonwealth Stadium opened 50 years ago, Kentucky football fans could buy a ticket to the Wildcats’ game against Virginia Tech for $5. Parking next to the stadium cost just $2.

While that price is not too far from the single-game cost of the cheapest tickets for UK vs. Akron on Saturday when adjusting for inflation, the price of the most expensive seats in the facility now known as Kroger Field today surely would have shocked anyone attending that first game.

UK mega-booster Joe Craft, whose name graces both the Wildcats’ basketball and football practice facilities, will pay just more than $17,000 for his luxury suite for the Akron game. Craft leases one of the largest of Kroger Field’s 67 luxury suites for an annual fee of $120,000.

When Kentucky moved from the 37,500-seat Stoll Field to the then 57,800-seat Commonwealth Stadium the larger facility and nicer amenities were among the selling points for the $12 million project. Luxury suites were not added to the stadium until 1999 though when both end zones were enclosed at a cost of $27.6 million.

“That’s a very important piece of the funding for this project,” athletics director C.M. Newton said of the first luxury suites when they were unveiled for the 1999 season opener.

Fifth floor suites sit empty before the game against EKU in Lexington, Ky, Saturday, September 9, 2023.
Fifth floor suites sit empty before the game against EKU in Lexington, Ky, Saturday, September 9, 2023.
A young Kentucky fan cheers from a fifth-floor suite as other spectators below him applaud a play from the upper deck during last Saturday’s UK football game against Eastern Kentucky at Kroger Field. Originally named Commonwealth Stadium, the venue arrived Friday at the 50th anniversary of its opening on Sept. 15, 1973.
A young Kentucky fan cheers from a fifth-floor suite as other spectators below him applaud a play from the upper deck during last Saturday’s UK football game against Eastern Kentucky at Kroger Field. Originally named Commonwealth Stadium, the venue arrived Friday at the 50th anniversary of its opening on Sept. 15, 1973.

The luxury suites remain a significant financial boon for the athletics department.

The 40 end zone suites were initially leased for an annual price of $39,600 or $52,800 in 1999. Kentucky added 27 suites along the south sideline as part of the $126 million stadium renovation unveiled in 2015.

The 67 luxury suites are all leased for the 2023 season. Four suites reserved for UK coach Mark Stoops, president Eli Capilouto, the athletics department and visiting athletics director are provided for free, but the other 63 suites cost their lease holders between $45,000 and $120,000 this season.

Those 63 suites will generate just less than $3.5 million in lease payments for UK this year.

The end zone suites include a refrigerator, sink and private restroom. The sideline suites include a refrigerator and sink but share restrooms on the suite level of the stadium. Each suite can seat at least 16 people.

Suite holders have a right of first refusal when their multi-year lease expires. There is a waiting list based on K Fund donation rankings utilized when any suite opens for lease. The suites have been sold out since the 1999 season.

Fifth Third Bank, Central Bank, UK Healthcare, LG&E and Coca-Cola are among the original suite holders from the 1999 expansion that still lease suites at Kroger Field. Tim Couch, the Wildcat legend who sparked much of the fan interest that helped push through the 1999 expansion, now leases his own sideline suite for $60,000.

JMI Sports, UK’s multimedia marketing partner, leases five sideline suites for a total $360,000. JMI’s largest suite costs $120,000.

Most of the current suite leases are set to expire in the next two years. Three leases run through the 2025 season. Craft’s lease and four of the JMI leases run through the 2030 season.

UK’s end zone suites each include a refrigerator, sink and private restroom. The sideline suites include a refrigerator and sink but share restrooms on the suite level of the stadium. Each suite can seat at least 16 people.
UK’s end zone suites each include a refrigerator, sink and private restroom. The sideline suites include a refrigerator and sink but share restrooms on the suite level of the stadium. Each suite can seat at least 16 people.
Kentucky’s 67 luxury suites at Commonwealth Stadium range in price from $45,000 to $120,000 annually.
Kentucky’s 67 luxury suites at Commonwealth Stadium range in price from $45,000 to $120,000 annually.

How much each luxury suite at Kroger Field costs

$120,000

▪ Joseph W. Craft

▪ JMI Sports/UK Sports Marketing

$67,200

▪ Ron M. Johnson

▪ Central Bank

▪ Preston and Bonnstetter

$60,000

▪ Frank and Langdon Shoop

▪ Scott and Kim King

▪ Teresa and Jeffrey Burton

▪ Wallace and Hart

▪ Tim Couch

▪ Ballard Cassady Jr.

▪ Mitch Potter

▪ Webb Companies

▪ Brett Setzer

▪ Brian Holley

▪ Delta Dental

▪ Marty and Theresa Johnson

▪ Todd Case

▪ Kentucky Eagle, Inc.

▪ Cowgill Management Co., LLC

▪ Todd K. McCoy

▪ Ryan Golibersuch

▪ Terry Kinzer

▪ JMI Sports/UK Sports Marketing (4)

$50,400

▪ James D. Elam

▪ Michael L. Tetterton

▪ Karen Nielsen

▪ JZT Properties LLC

▪ Michael K. McKinney

▪ LG&E and KU Energy LLC

▪ Coca-Cola Refreshments

▪ Liberty Management LLC

▪ Windstream

▪ Applied Information LLC

▪ UK Healthcare

▪ D. Ray Ball Jr.

▪ Woodall Construction Inc.

▪ James Monroe Homes

▪ William F. Morgan

▪ Roger D. Baird

▪ ATS Construction

$45,000

▪ Lifeline Homecare

▪ Fifth Third Bank

▪ PNC

▪ H. David O’Donnell

▪ Bluegrass Hospitality Group

▪ Branscum Construction

▪ Kuhl Inc.

▪ Job D. Turner III

▪ M&M Services

▪ Mica Hall

▪ Ryan Pratt

▪ Pine Mountain Lumber Company

▪ Charles G. Nichols

▪ Mark Swofford

▪ G&J Pepsi Cola Bottling Company

▪ David R. Jacobs

▪ Tim Parsons

▪ Kentucky Coal Association

▪ James Kirchdorfer

Free

▪ UK head coach

▪ UK president’s office

▪ UK Athletics

▪ Visiting athletics director

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