Duke Confirms: No Fans at Cameron For Basketball
Due to the impact of COVID-19, Duke University will begin its winter sport program seasons without spectators at home events, extending a policy that was in place during the fall seasons.
“As Duke University continues to be an industry leader per providing a safe environment for intercollegiate athletic competition, the decision to maintain our non-spectator protocol is imperative for the overall health and safety of the Blue Devil fan base, student-athletes, coaches and support staff, notwithstanding the immediate campus population comprised of students, faculty and staff,” said Vice President and Director of Athletics Kevin White. “We will continue to embrace the challenges of this unique if not unprecedented time with flexibility and compliance, and can't begin to thank our dedicated, passionate fans enough for their unbridled support.”
Contests played on Duke's campus will include only essential game management personnel and broadcast media. Traditional parking lots used by fans on game day will be closed.
North Carolina’s protocols surrounding public gatherings were released earlier in the fall, allowing stadiums and arenas to admit fans up to seven percent of the venue’s capacity, but Duke chose not to take advantage of this loosening of the regulations and continued its policy prohibiting fans from football games and other fall sporting events.
Obviously, the policy will have a significant impact on Duke men’s basketball, which traditionally has one of the biggest home-court advantages in college basketball, due in no small part to a loud and active student section ringing three sides of the court.
