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Report: Purdue makes decision on capacity limit at Mackey Arena for March Madness games
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Big news came out of the NCAA on Friday, with the association announcing it was giving the green light for limited fan attendance for the annual March Madness tournament this year. Arenas are permitted to host up to 25% of their capacity for all rounds of this year’s event, all of which is scheduled to be played in Indiana.
However, not all venues will take advantage of that 25% capacity limit. Shortly after the NCAA made the announcement, Indiana University released a statement saying it would only permit up to 500 spectators for games during the tournament, following the same guidelines it did during the 2020-21 regular season.
Purdue University, however, has decided to allow a small number of fans.
According to Mike Carmin of the Journal & Courier, Purdue plans to allow 12-13% of Mackey Arena’s capacity to attend NCAA tournament contests next month. Mackey Arena can seat just over 14,000 fans, which means it would permit an estimated 1,800 spectators to attend games.
“As we’ve done throughout the pandemic, we will actively work with the Tippecanoe County Health Department, Purdue leadership and the various entities involved in making this type of decision,” said Tom Moreland, associate athletics director for strategic initiatives. “Currently, as we work with those various groups, we will be somewhere around 12 to 13% capacity in Mackey Arena.”
The NCAA tournament is set to begin on March 18.
All 67 games of this year’s NCAA tournament will be held in Indiana. In addition to Mackey Arena and Assembly Hall, the other sites for games are Lucas Oil Stadium, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse and Farmers Coliseum.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB