Massachusetts Governor Allows Limited Fans Back in Pro Stadiums
On Thursday, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced that Fenway Park, Gillette Stadium, and TD Garden will be allowed to have fans for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to his new limited capacity roll-out, these three stadiums will be allowed to have 12% attendance starting in late March. This move comes on the heels of other states like New York and New Jersey who also have made decisions to allow fans back into sporting events after months of empty stands.
With this news, this begs the question, will Boston College be next? The basketball and hockey seasons are all almost completed, but what about baseball. The Brighton Field at the Harrington Athletics Village holds 1000 fans. Using the figure that the governor provided, that would allow for around 120 fans at games, if Boston College allows it. "We are still in the process of determining a plan for the spring," Senior Associate AD for Communications Jason Baum told BC Bulletin.
But this news seems to indicate that the big sport on campus, football, appears to be getting closer and closer to having fans back at games for the 2021 season. While Boston College has yet to make an official announcement on their plans for the fall yet, the school has already begun selling season tickets for 2021 with the hope of fans in attendance. The aim being that infection rates will drop, and vaccination rates soar, fans will be allowed to return to Chestnut Hill when the Eagles face Colgate on September 4th. Also, it is important to note that the possibility that the number of total fans in attendance will look drastically different in the fall.
The other fan based factor to consider are the national tournaments for winter teams. The NCAA has already decided that the men's and women's basketball tournaments will allow 25% attendance at their tournament games, while the ACC tournament is still hammering out details. Hockey East has yet to announce if they will allow fans, but the NCAA is going to allow fans at their national hockey tournament, but the number will dictated by the local governing boards.
Stay tuned to BC Bulletin for further updates on Boston College's plans moving forward.
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