Fifteen thousand tickets were sold within hours Monday after a local radio station announced at 5:05 p.m. that British rock band The Who is coming to Rupp Arena on Nov. 29.

Rupp Arena operation manager Bill Humphrey said that after the concert date was confirmed Friday, news leaked out and about 400 persons camped over the weekend to buy tickets. Tickets went on sale at 5:30 p.m. Monday and by 6 p.m. 2,000 persons were in line. The box office closed at 8 p.m. Monday and Humphrey said several hundred people waited for its reopening at 10 a.m. this morning.

"It's very conceivable that we could be sold out by Wednesday afternoon," said Humphrey in a telephone interview today.

All 23,411 tickets are selling for $15.25 on Rupp Arena's usual reserved seating basis.

"At this stage we are the final date on the tour," said Humphrey. The Lexington stop is part of the second leg of the "farewell tour" set up last week. The first leg started Sept. 22 and since that time The Who has sold out stadium and arena concerts across the nation.

Humphrey said no information is available at this time on which band will open for The Who. He said he is hoping it will be The Clash, a New Wave band very much in demand which has fronted for The Who on recent outdoor dates. Singer David Johansen has also opened for The Who in recent appearances.

The Who played in Louisville Oct. 7 and its last Lexington appearance was July 1980.

"They're doing the same thing the Rolling Stones did by adding dates and dropping dates," said Humphrey. The Stones added Lexington to the itinerary last December at the tail end of the group's commercially successful tour and it has been predicted in trade publications that The Who tour may achieve a financial success on the same scale.

The Who's announcement that this will be the final tour in its 15-year history has fueled much of the interest in concerts and the band's current album It's Hard. After five weeks on the Billboard chart, the album is number eight and is competing with Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska LP as fastest selling album.