Football games at Spartan Stadium likely will not see capacity crowds of 75,000 this seasonGETTY IMAGES
Michigan State has paused its season- and student-ticket sales for football as it "works to limit attendance if and when the Spartans play this fall," according to Chris Solari of the DETROIT FREE PRESS. MSU AD Bill Beekman said that the school's plan for attendance "remains in flux but likely will reduce the number of fans allowed in Spartan Stadium," which seats 75,005 at full capacity. MSU is giving those who already paid for season tickets "three options: opt out and convert their payments to donations to the Spartan Fund, roll over their payments for 2021 and not attend this fall, or receive full refunds for the upcoming season." The school said that if they are "required to reduce the number of fans allowed, there likely will be 'price adjustments to tickets, seat premiums, and parking' as well as ticket quantity reductions." MSU also is "considering instituting a reserved-by-section plan for this season only, in which fans would be assigned their locations 'in priority order.'" That "would include a reserved section and range of rows in the lower, middle or upper portions of the section" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 6/25).
PUT ON HOLD: In Michigan, Mark Johnson reported MSU "will pause construction at Munn Ice Arena and put several additional projects on hold to save money and offset the damage the COVID-19 outbreak has done to the university's finances." In all, 19 projects "will be affected," and it is "unclear when the projects will resume." MSU Associate AD/Communications Matt Larson said that work "will continue at Munn Ice Arena to fully enclose it and to create a southern exit route" (LANSING STATE JOURNAL, 6/25).
