Syracuse Football: Reduced capacity is anticipated for 2020 season
By Neil Adler
Assuming a 2020 campaign commences, Syracuse football will likely experience a stanza with attendance limitations.
Syracuse football, should it play this fall, will probably do so in front of fewer fans than in years past amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
That’s the word from Orange athletics director John Wildhack, who says that Syracuse University sports leaders “are anticipating and planning for reduced capacity to some degree” during a potential 2020 football season, according to a letter written by Wildhack and posted on cuse.com.
He said in his letter that Syracuse Athletics is examining numerous potentially viable plans regarding attendance at ‘Cuse home events in the fall.
Wildhack added that Syracuse athletics officials are taking a look at facility plans from organizations such as Disney and the NFL to “help us determine a plan to best serve our fans and employ the safest practices possible.”
Syracuse University, Wildhack writes, is closely working with both public health and government officials to first create, then deploy, an overall public-health strategy “that protects and safeguards the well-being of our fans, student-athletes, and the campus and Central New York communities.”
Syracuse football is putting its seat upgrade on hold at this juncture.
As far as the upcoming football term is concerned, Wildhack says that the ‘Cuse is expecting attendance limitations, and “we believe it is best that we pause our football seat upgrade and parking process. For men’s and women’s basketball it is simply too early to tell.”
Fans may continue to renew or purchase new season tickets for every Orange sport, although Wildhack did ask for “patience and understanding in the event we need to make seating adjustments to comply with COVID-19 prevention best practices.”
The NCAA Division I Council recently voted to allow student-athletes in all sports to begin participating in voluntary on-campus athletics activities starting on June 1. NCAA officials have also said that they may have to adjust the calendar for when fall-sport championships are played.
The Atlantic Coast Conference, meanwhile, will not place any limitations on its 15 member institutions, including the ‘Cuse, as it pertains to these kinds of summer workouts, according to a Syracuse.com report.
This is, of course, a fluid situation. Things could definitely change one way or another. But it’s encouraging to see that Orange football and other fall sports may transpire a few months from now.