Thousands of people who lined up downtown early Wednesday for tickets to Muhammad Ali’s funeral service left empty-handed after the box office ran out in a little over an hour.
At least 500 people were already outside the KFC Yum! Center by 6:30 a.m. for a chance to get their tickets to what many people are calling a historic and star-studded event. By 8 a.m. the line was at least 2,000 people long, snaking all the way around all three corners of the downtown arena.
With people chanting “Ali! Ali! Ali!” officials opted to open the box offices up around 8:15 a.m., well before the scheduled time of 10 a.m. They were out of tickets by 9:30 a.m.
The free tickets were handed out on a first-come, first-served basis, with each individual allowed to get up to four. Seats were assigned, starting with the lower-levels first.
Before the event, officials said there were going to be a little more than 10,000 tickets available to the general public. It is unclear how many tickets were handed out Wednesday.
By the time there were no tickets left, lines were still almost all the way around the arena. Police were lined down Third Street as a precaution to help escort people out of the area.
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Fans line up to get tickets to the Muhammad Ali memorial service at the KFC Yum! Center on Friday. (Photo: Justin Sayers/The CJ)
Kenneth and Helen Woods, of Louisville, said they arrived around 8:30 a.m. and stood all the way on the east side of the arena. They had made it around two corners and were right by the entrance when they found out they wouldn’t get tickets.
“We’re a little disappointed,” Kenneth Woods said. “By our calculations, there was no way they should have run out of tickets before we got to the front.”
Kenneth Woods, who is 14 years younger than Ali, said he grew up in the same neighborhood as the boxer and humanitarian. He said Ali would stop during his morning jogs to say hello to his family and gave him the nickname “pretty boy.”
“He called me that ever since I was little,” said Woods, who claims Ali even recognized him at a book signing in downtown Louisville in the late 1980s.
The Woods said they’re upset that they didn’t get tickets though they do have tickets to Thursday’s Jenazah funeral service at Freedom Hall. Tickets for the Thursday event were still available as of Wednesday morning and can be claimed at the box office at Freedom Hall.
