Penn State President: Expect 'Highly Restricted' Football Crowds This Fall
Penn State doesn't want to "reset the COVID clock" with large football crowds this fall, so fans should expect potential Beaver Stadium attendance to be "highly restricted," President Eric Barron said Monday.
During two Penn State virtual town halls with faculty and students, Barron said that universities across the country are planning to curtail football attendance significantly this season. Though not a surprising revelation, Barron's assessment offered some direction for students scheduled to return to campus in August and for fans expecting to attend home games at Beaver Stadium.
"I have heard so far of no university that intends to have a full stadium going into the fall," Barron said, "but rather most are planning for a highly restricted attendance."
Barron said that Big Ten schools are sharing information about game operations and attendance limits, adding that, "I will tell you none have any intention of a massive number of individuals that then provide the opportunity to spread COVID to different communities."
Football attendance is a continuing subject as universities debate the proper steps toward resuming in-person classes on campus. Penn State has announced that in-person classes will resume, with significant restrictions, in late August and conclude before Thanksgiving.
In addition, Penn State officials said Monday that they will restrict students from traveling off-campus upon returning, at least during the initial phase of the fall semester. They will extend that to limiting travelers to Penn State, particularly on football weekends.
Barron said Penn State will seek to prevent what he called a "superspreader event" by reducing attendance. Penn State averaged 105,678 fans per game last season, with many of them traveling from across Pennsylvania and outside the state.
"You can really look at the suggestions ... as an effort not to reset the number of cases by having our students go elsewhere and then come back or by having large numbers of visitors come and therefore resetting all that effort in testing and tracing," Barron said. "So I think it's wise to think about that in the same mode for something like football. This would be an opportunity, if we were to fill our stadiums with outside individuals, we would be once again resetting the situation for our communities and having the potential to create a superspreader event."
Penn State's athletic department on Monday entered Phase II of its staggered return process for athletes. Football coaches returned to the Lasch Building, and players on the men and women's basketball teams began their quarantine process before starting voluntary workouts.
Barron said that discussions about the return of fall sports are ongoing.
"We have athletes that are beginning to return," Barron said. "That is not a message on what to expect in the fall. That's a message on our concern that, should we be able to return to the field of play, our athletes are physically fit, have had the appropriate nutrition and we're not putting them at risk because of a last-minute decision.
"The topic of sports activities for the fall is an active one nationally, it's an active one in the university and it's very active in the Big Ten."
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