Penn State makes call on attendance for football season
The “Happy” is going to be taken out of Happy Valley this year.
On Thursday morning, Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour sent out a message that was posted to the school’s athletic website detailing attendance plans for fall sports in 2020. Unfortunately for PSU fans, competitions will be played with no attendance.
For now, there will be no attendance for fall sporting events for general seating areas in 2020.
“As of today, the current large group gatherings guidance from the Governor’s office limits capacity to 250 people for outside events and 25 people for inside events,” Barbour said. “Therefore, under the current conditions and current state orders, our fall sports events would be conducted without fans in general seating areas of our facilities. We continue to work with the Governor’s office to discuss, and possibly be prepared for the opportunity to have spectators at our fall Penn State sporting events.”
In addition to discussing the attendance situation, Barbour also addressed the high revenue loss the athletic department will sustain due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“Regardless of whether we play or don’t play, our revenue losses will be in the high eight figures, reaching nine figures in the case of no competition,” Barbour said. “We cannot let this pandemic stall or wipe out all of the incredible work and progress that, with your help, our students and our programs have been able to achieve in the classroom, in the community and, of course, in our competitive venues.”
On Wednesday, the B1G released a revised 10-game, conference-only schedule for the 2020 season. While it’s a step towards having football this fall, it’s still not a guarantee.