LEXINGTON, Ky. _ University of Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops had one reason to not be happy the day after signing a renegotiated contract that begot him a half-million dollar raise through the next six seasons.
UK at noon Saturday kicks off its 2019 season against Toledo at Kroger Field. Tickets for that game have not sold out, and the university is expecting "plenty of" empty seats. A quick look at Ticketmaster shows tickets _ which range in price from $30-70 for non-resale varieties _ available in almost every section of the stadium, including hundreds in the lower bowl.
"I'm a little disappointed in that, to be honest with you," Stoops said of the ticket availability. "Coming off 10 wins and, you know, these guys have worked extremely hard and we need the support out there. It makes a difference. We're all trying to build this program."
The program this year sold the second-fewest season ticket packages of any year during Stoops' tenure. Single-game tickets for UK's second home game, a 7:30 p.m. kickoff against Eastern Michigan on Sept. 7, are readily available, but the Wildcats' SEC opener against Florida on Sept. 14 was this week announced as a sellout.
The university earlier Thursday announced a restructuring of Stoops' contract, the most significant change being a $500,000 increase in his overall pay over each of the next six seasons, beginning with the upcoming one. Stoops is set to make $4.75 million this year, making him one of the nation's 20 highest paid college football coaches.
Incentives that previously existed for winning seven and eight games in a single season were removed from Stoops' agreement. A bonus incentive of $250,000 kicks in for win No. 9 and every win thereafter in a single season under the current terms.
Stoops was asked what the removal of those incentives suggests about the university's belief in what he's doing with the program.
"I don't know, I let my attorney deal with all that," Stoops said. "I just appreciate everything that they've done for me and try to reciprocate by putting out a good product on the field."
The new agreement also provides Stoops access to up to 10 hours of private aircraft use for personal travel each year. How does he plan to take advantage of that?
"I don't know," Stoops said with a laugh. "I've got a long time until I worry about that."
