We all want to be in the stands when the Florida Gators take the field this fall and, soon, we’ll know if that will be a possibility.
Speaking with Steve Russell on WRUF Gainesville, Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin said the University of Florida will have an answer on if they will be able to host fans at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and if so how many will be allowed to attend by the end of the week.
“It’s not going to be normal,” Stricklin said. “But that doesn’t mean it can’t be special.”
Stricklin talked about a number of topics during the 20-minute interview and answered several questions from fans. Here is what was discussed and how it pertains to Florida and its fans for 2020.
Seating capacity at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Scott Stricklin has remained very clear on his stance regarding allowing fans at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in 2020.
“We’re not going to do it unless we feel like we have an environment that can be done in a healthy manner,” Stricklin told Steve Russell.
That’s been his stance since the season was announced.
“We’re close. By the end of this week, I expect we’ll be in a position to share with our season ticket holders and Gator Nation what those plans are.”
Stadium capacity (as announced) throughout the SEC
Alabama – approximately 20% capacity
Auburn – approximately 20% capacity
Arkansas – between 16,000-17,000 (approximately 21%-23%)
Florida – NO ANNOUNCEMENT
Georgia – between 20% and 25%
Kentucky – NO ANNOUNCEMENT
LSU – NO ANNOUNCEMENT
Mississippi State – No official announcement but Mississippi Governor capped attendance at 25% statewide
Missouri – capped at 25%
Ole Miss – No official announcement but Mississippi Governor capped attendance at 25% statewide
South Carolina – Approximately 20,000 (roughly 25% capacity)
Tennessee – Capped at 25%
Texas A&M – 25 % capacity
Vanderbilt – NO ANNOUNCEMENT
Road Tickets will be hard to come by
Each SEC team will be allotted approximately 500 tickets to use for road games. That isn’t a lot and when you dig deeper into the numbers it’s nearly none. SEC teams can travel 75 players. All players get four tickets for their families. That’s 300 tickets. Add in the coaches’ families and other team personnel that are allotted tickets and you quickly reach that 500 cap.
“Everyone that has fans is already going to have a very limited number to take care of the home crowd,” Stricklin said. “As a league, basically, we’re going to have enough road game tickets just to take care of players’ families and not going to have the normal allotment.”
There will always be a secondary market, but expect those ticket prices to reflect the scarcity of tickets available.
The Pride of the Sunshine Band will also not travel to games this season.
Artificial crowd noise
There has been a lot of talk about the potential to use artificial noise to make up for the fact that stadiums will be well under normal capacity. The SEC has not changed its rule, which will still be in play in 2020. The rule, dubbed by Mississippi State media as the “Cowbell Compromise” was made in 2018. Mississippi State has a long-standing tradition of clanging cowbells inside the stadium. Having been at the game, take it from me, it’s very loud. In 2018 the SEC amended a rule on artificial noise, allowing it up until the quarterback is under center, or in the shotgun and set ready for a play. There cannot be artificial noise after that point and cannot resume until the current play is dead.
This means you can play music or sounds up until the quarterback is ready and in a position to receive the ball to start the play. So, as of now, the 14 teams in the league will be allowed to pump in noise up until that point. It remains unclear if there will be a new rule for 2020 or if the SEC will continue with this rule, but as of September 2nd the league is just rolling with what they have in place.
COVID testing Update
One positive was an initial screening of someone coming back to campus after being at home.
**Based on test results available as of Monday, August 31**
Since Student-Athletes Returned to Campus on May 26
All Student-Athletes Total Tests for August: 687
All Student-Athletes Total Positives for August: 1
All Student-Athletes Total Tests on Campus: 1017
All Student-Athletes Total Positives on Campus: 35
Since Football Student-Athletes Returned to Campus on May 26
Total Tests for August: 298
Total Positives for August: 0
Total Tests on Campus: 459
Total Positives on Campus: 21
Scott Stricklin quote on playing sports safely and what has been going on leading up to this point.
“The best analogy I’ve heard is an ER doctor is having to make decisions based on 20% of the facts. A surgeon is making a decision based on 80% of the facts. A pathologist is making decisions on 100% of the facts. You would love to be a pathologist, be 100% certain. We’re more of the emergency room, ER doctor, right now. We are getting just a limited amount of data, especially early on in this, to decide what we need to do going forward. I feel like we’re getting closer, maybe not all the way to 80% but we have more information now certainly from how the virus impacts young people. I heard something really fascinating from the NFL last week. According to what they’ve been able to research and study, and you think about European soccer and the NBA, and Major League Baseball, NFL in camps, there has been no known transmission of the virus from athletic competition. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened, but nobody has identified that as a way it has been spread up to this point. Six months ago we did not know that. It’s not necessarily verifiable right now but we’re starting to get indications that we can let our athletes compete in a safe manner.”