Auburn football games will have a 20 percent capacity for the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns, so Jordan-Hare Stadium will have a much different look this fall.
The SEC is continuing ahead with a 2020 fall football season and will even have fans in attendance at games. This leaves schools to come up with a proper plan for how many fans can attend a game in a safe manner. Auburn has decided upon a maximum capacity that should allow for proper distancing at Jordan-Hare Stadium, in a statement released from Auburn athletic director Allen Greene on Wednesday.
"While we wish we could pack 87,451 fans into Jordan-Hare Stadium for all five home games this season, the coronavirus pandemic has necessitated a temporary reduction in capacity. With so many passionate Auburn supporters eager to attend, the decision to select who receives access to tickets is extraordinarily difficult.I’ve heard from many of you who treasure the memories you made by attending Auburn football games when you were students. We plan to provide that same opportunity for our current students, so they’ll be able to forever look back fondly on their fall Saturdays on the Plains.Students, we’re counting on you to amplify your voices – while practicing physical distancing and wearing face coverings – so that Auburn will maintain what Coach Malzahn calls “the best home-field advantage in college football.”We appreciate everyone’s flexibility and understanding as we follow local and state guidelines to manage fan health and safety."
Auburn football will have about 17,000 fans at home football games this fall
The Tigers’ home stadium holds just over 87,000 fans so we are looking at between 17,000-18,000 fans per game this season. This will be an odd sight after so many years of the stadium being packed to capacity, but it is better than being forced to play in front of an empty stadium. That is true at least in the football sense of things.
The public safety aspect of this plan is still up for debate. The hope is the university has a proper plan for maintaining distancing during the games. This is not only for the safety of the fans but for the players and everyone on the field as well.
Auburn’s plan to have fans at games may have players and coaches in the Big Ten and Pac-12 wondering why they can’t have a season in general, even without fans. The answer to that question may lie with the fact college football’s leadership doesn’t appear to be all that unified and the COVID-19 pandemic finally made that clear.
Optimism is always a good thing and Auburn planning to have fans in attendance provides hope that there is a safe way to play college football this season. Now the goal is to make sure the plan is properly followed and no one is put in harm’s way attending a football game.
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