The Arena Has 11,000 Seats But 10,000 Will Be Empty At GOP Debate

While millions will watch the third Republican presidential debate on TV, just 1,000 people will get tickets to see the event in person in the massive Coors Events Center on the scenic University of Colorado campus in Boulder.

CNBC, the cable network sponsoring the debate, didn't respond to questions about why the 11,000-seat arena would remain mostly empty.

"The way it was explained to us by CNBC is the event is meant for a TV audience, not so much for a live audience," said Ryan Lynch, the executive director of the Colorado Republican Party, which will get 200 tickets to split among party donors and elected officials.

The first Republican candidate debate, in Cleveland, had a large number of empty seats too — about 4,500 seats were filled in a 20,000-seat arena.

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