By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor
The Bluegrass Stallions will be playing up to three home games this season at the Arena in Corbin, and plan to host about six games in Corbin next season.
Tony Chase, owner of the Lexington-based American Basketball Association team, said he’s finalized negotiations with Arena management for two home games on Jan. 25 and Feb. 24. A third game on Feb. 14 is still in negotiations, he said.
“We’re extremely excited about it, the Arena is absolutely spectacular,” Chase said. “I met with (Arena Manager) Cliff (Clinger) and his team and actually came down on Wednesday to tour the facility and to begin the process of finalizing the contract. I’ve shared it with our players and coaches and they’re excited because we know that Corbin is a huge hotbed of University of Kentucky basketball fans. With both of our coaches having been UK players and then four former UK players on the team, I think we’re going to bring some excitement to that Arena.”
The Stallions began their inaugural season last November and have so far played all their home games at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. Earlier this week, Chase said the team would no longer be playing at the horse park due to “additional financial challenges” at the venue. Those included, he said, about $14,000 in expenses each time the court floor and risers had to be disassembled and reassembled when the horse park had booked events between games.
Chase announced he was looking at alternative venues in Corbin and Frankfort, as well as space at high school gyms in Lexington.
“The main goal there is to fulfill our obligation to season ticket holders, to be able not to have to travel to Corbin or Frankfort,” he said.
ABA teams typically have 15-16 home games. Chase said the Stallions will still have 10-12 home games in Lexington next season, and the rest of the games, including some away games, will be shared between Corbin and the Frankfort Convention Center.
“Next year we’re going to define some of the games in Corbin and Frankfort as away games, but we’re going to convince the other team that would have otherwise played in their own venue to come and join us there,” he said. “... We feel pretty confident that we’re going to put together probably a six-game schedule and basically call it the Corbin six-pack and let people buy six games for the price of five. Certainly, we’re excited about that because we feel like Corbin is a great market for us.”
Chase is banking on area Wildcats fans coming to the games. The Stallions have four former UK players on the current roster — Rovi Moss, Wayne Turner, Lukasz Obrzut and Bobbie Perry. They also claim Luke Fitzgerald, a former University of the Cumberlands player who was twice named to the NAIA first-team All-American and is a former NAIA player of the year. Former UK guard Kyle Macy is the team’s head coach.
“I understand that I need to reach out beyond the confines of Lexington to make this successful, so our theory is with six home games in Corbin, we’re Corbin’s team,” Chase said.
He also said that while the team has had its share of financial difficulties, he is looking ahead to next season’s schedule.
“Anytime somebody starts a business, their year one is going to be a tough year ... I’ve owned over 50 businesses in my career and own nine right now, and so I didn’t come into this thinking it would be a profit maker, but we ran into some additional financial challenges being out at the horse park that we really hadn’t planned on,” he said.
General admission tickets for the Stallions games in Corbin will be $10. Seats on the Arena floor are $25 and courtside seats are $60. Tickets for this season’s Corbin games go on sale Monday, Chase said.
