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Purdue president hints at attendance plan for Ross-Ade Stadium
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Some schools are still moving forward with the hope of having full attendance for the upcoming college football season. Others are preparing a plan for limited capacity in fall 2020. Purdue is hinting at the latter.
Mike Carmin of the Journal & Courier reported that Purdue University President Mitch Daniels talked briefly about the school’s COVID-19 plan for home football games this fall. Right now, Daniels doesn’t expect to have games exceed one-fourth of the capacity at Ross-Ade Stadium.
The venue in West Lafayette holds 57,000 fans.
Speaking before COVID-19: Going Back to College Safely Committee, #Purdue president Mitch Daniels said the school doesn't plan to go beyond 1/4 capacity at Ross-Ade Stadium, which seats about 57,000
— mike carmin (@mike_carmin) June 4, 2020
If Purdue sticks with that figure, approximately 14,250 fans would be permitted to attend home games at Ross-Ade Stadium during the 2020 college football season. It would be a significant blow to the athletic department’s game-day revenue.
Purdue was one of the first public universities to announce it intended to host on-campus classes in the fall. That provided the first spark of momentum that college football could still be played this fall.
Now, there’s even more momentum heading towards a college football season. While there are still some uncertainties with attendance, schedule, travel and the like, it seems like college athletics will resume in 2020.
The scene might just be a little bit different.
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