Mark Pope reveals how much it cost him to pay for fans’ ice cream at Rupp Arena

Remember when Mark Pope bought a round of the world famous Taylor Belle’s Ice Cream for the crowd at Rupp Arena on Black Friday, his gift to everyone who was there for his post-game radio show since he didn’t have time for autographs? It was the biggest turnout of the year – and perhaps in a decade, unfortunately for the popes. He said his wife, Lee Anne, left her credit card at the ice cream stand and Big Blue Nation was welcome to increase the charges on the way out.

“The word on the street is that here in the Rupp Arena there is the best ice in the world” Pope said. “So Ms. Lee Anne left her credit card at the ice cream stand up here, so it’s on me tonight. Help yourself. Grab some ice cream on the way out. Enjoy and thank you for coming here.”

As you can imagine, fans rushed up the steps to line up in a line that unsurprisingly wrapped around the building after Kentucky’s win over Georgia State.

What are the consequences of this decision to trust the most passionate fan base in college basketball with your credit card? particularly with Rupp Arena ice cream on the table? Pope said it wasn’t pretty.

During his phone-in radio show Monday night, Tom Leach set the $2,000 over/under on last weekend’s Pope bill from the fine folks at Taylor Belle’s Ice Cream. Kentucky’s head coach said fans reached that number and more — no, thanks to retail costs.

“Yeah, we’ll stick with the over,” Pope joked. “Guys, I thought Rupp was going to give me a little discount on the ice cream. They didn’t do it! But it was worth it. It was worth it (laughs).”

When each bag costs a whopping $7 and there are hundreds of fans in the stands – maybe even a thousand or more – you can do the math. It adds up quickly!

The new salary at Kentucky is good treatment for him, and in return he treats the fans too.