Big game is big business for bars…Kentucky Theater?

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ)- The big game is big business for local bars, and other venues.

Few things entertain and inspire like a good movie, the kind manager Fred Mills offers at the Kentucky Theater.

“I think it’s known as the theater that brings a lot of films to Lexington that might not ever play here,” Mills said.

It’s not the latest indie flick, though, expected to bring a crowd Thursday night. It’s the big game. If you didn’t expect to see basketball on a marquee, you haven’t lived in Kentucky long enough.

“When I was putting the letters up on the east side, everybody was like, ‘You playing the game?’ ‘Yes, we’re playing the game,'” Greg Cason said.

The theater’s maintenance man says he gets the excitement. He’s supposed to be working security during the vent, but it’s hard not to sneak a peak.

“Oh, yeah, definitely. Every time i get the chance, you’ll see me standing around, looking at the big screen,” he laughed.

It’s free to get in. First come, first serve, starting with the early game.

“That place holds 800 people. You know, the year we had the championship, there was 800 some people in there plus people were lining up around the sides so it’s like being in the Rupp. You know, you get to hear that much atmosphere too. When they hit a shot, you can probably hear it down to the road,” Cason said.

Mills says there will be popcorn, hot dogs, and drinks. The concessions help keep the theater going.

Cason gets it.

“I grew up downtown Lexington…Sam Bowie, Travis Ford, Rex Chapman. You name them, I’vee known them,” he said.

Cason says, as a boy, he’d hold his own ball, watching the players shoot outside the Wildcat Lodge.

“It’s us. UK is us…basketball is what Kentucky’s known for,” Cason said.

So under the marquee proclaiming black panther the new hero, he placed the letters inviting people to follow some local heroes.

Mills says the theater has been showing Kentucky’s NCAA games for about eight years, starting each year with the Sweet Sixteen game.