Given the state of the pandemic, it’s no surprise that New York’s top government leader is nixing fan attendance for fall sports like Syracuse football.
In a decision with implications for Syracuse football, colleges and universities throughout the state of New York, should they ultimately play sports this fall, will not have fans in attendance, Gov. Andrew Cuomo says, according to various media reports.
This announcement by Cuomo, who disclosed his decision in a call with media members on Tuesday, isn’t particularly surprising. The novel coronavirus pandemic, unfortunately, isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon – and record numbers of cases are getting reported around the country.
Orange athletics-department officials had already previously said that they were planning for reduced attendance at Syracuse football games this fall, should a 2020 campaign occur.
However, a lot of ominous signs have come to light of late on a national scale that would seem to indicate that a fall stanza is pretty unlikely, and perhaps a spring season may prove a more realistic option.
Officials with the Atlantic Coast Conference, where the ‘Cuse is a member, have noted that they expect to provide more information on the status of the league’s fall sports by the end of this month.
Yes, if football does transpire in the near term, it would kind of be a bummer with no fans in the stands, especially since the Orange is in the process of renovating the Carrier Dome.
However, as much as we all love sports, the health and safety of the student-athletes, coaches, athletics-department personnel and others associated with all of the Syracuse fall squads – as well as the general public – are the highest priority.
College sports can go forward, but like the pros cannot have fans, says Cuomo budget director Robert Mujica
— Nick Reisman (@NickReisman) July 21, 2020
We’ve reached out to Syracuse football for comment and will let you know if we hear back with any sort of official statement. Among those to first report on the news about Cuomo’s decision, by the way, are Nick Reisman of Spectrum News and Kevin Tampone of Syracuse.com.
Tampone writes that college contests in New York state can happen and may also get aired on television, but fans may not enter arenas, stadiums and other facilities. New York officials have also issued their guidance for games at the professional level, which similarly lets encounters in the state transpire, but without fans.
Now the question becomes, so what about fans inside the Dome for Syracuse basketball? That remains unclear, although the way things have gone recently as far as the pandemic is concerned, I would expect Orange men’s and women’s games on the Hill to not include fans, either.
"After our story published, Syracuse University Director of Athletics John Wildhack released the following statement to the press: “The health and safety of our student-athletes, our fans, our campus community and the broader Central New York community is our chief priority. We appreciate and support Governor Cuomo’s continued commitment and ongoing efforts to keeping our communities safe. We will seek further clarification regarding the opportunity to have fans at our games and move forward appropriately under the guidance of the state.”"