The Kentucky Wildcats basketball team isn’t the only elite squad to occupy Rupp Arena.
The venue’s social media team was ranked fifth in the country by Venues Today in a survey that included stadiums, large and small arenas, theaters and clubs. It even beat out Louisville’s new KFC Yum! Center by 31 places.
But with so many variables to account for, be it in Twitter or Facebook, how did they figure this out?
The magazine devised an algorithm that they applied to each venue (the total number of venues is not yet known). Here’s their formula, according to their methodology post:
Number of Facebook Fans + Number of Tweets + (Number of Facebook Check-Ins x 20%) + (Number of Twitter Followers x 25%) + (Number of Twitter listed x 3.5) = Raw Score
Raw Score is then adjusted by building size and each category gets a subsequent upward adjustment: Stadiums – 1%; Large Arena – 2%; Small Arena – 3%; Theater – 4%; Clubs – 5%
Capacity adjusted score is then handicapped for market size. Cities smaller than New Orleans got a .5% boost, cities smaller than Detroit got a 1% boost and cities smaller than Portland, Ore., received a 2% boost.
Fully adjusted score is then rounded up to a whole number and divided by 1,000 to create a three or two digit Power 100 Score.”
If that seems like a pretty complicated system, then you’re probably right.
By looking at some of the ways the team created their formula, here’s a few reasons why Rupp did better than the Yum! Center and most of the other venues, for that matter.
- The formula favors older establishments – As it probably should. Looking at the huge percentage boost these venues get for Facebook Check-ins is quite a lot. While that function hasn’t been around too long itself, Rupp has been around long enough to take an easy advantage in that section.
- Lexington is smaller than Louisville – Smaller cities get an advantage over bigger ones. I’m not so sure if I agree with the formula’s idea to equalize out the venues based on location. Isn’t that what venues are all about? Nevertheless, it certainly helped Lexington.
- The Big Blue Nation is bigger than the Cards – It certainly is no question of the bigger basketball fan base in Kentucky. Wildcat fans will travel far and wide to get to Rupp for a big game. For the size of the venue, and the size of the city, Rupp Arena couldn’t have had a better organization to call it home.
- It serves most of Kentucky – Rupp Arena may be one of the biggest indoor venues available to Kentuckians, which pulls in some of the biggest musicians, theater groups and conventions.
Here are some notable venues Rupp Arena beat out in this survey:
- Georgia Dome, Atlanta
- House of Blues (New York, Dallas, New Orleans and Houston)
- Radio City Music Hall, New York City
- AT&T Center, San Antonio
- American Airlines Center, Dallas
