Tiger Stadium would be limited to 50% capacity under current Phase 2 guidelinesGETTY IMAGES
One LSU official indicated that the school could have up to 75% occupancy at Tiger Stadium for the '20 football season depending on "what reopening phase the state of Louisiana is in," according to Brooks Kubena of the Baton Rouge ADVOCATE. LSU Exec Deputy AD Verge Ausberry appeared on ESPN Radio 104.5 Baton Rouge on Friday and said that under Phase 2, which the state currently is in, Tiger Stadium "would be limited to 50% occupancy." That would "increase to 75% under Phase 3." Ausberry in a separate interview said that LSU "doesn't know what the actual numbers of fans allowed inside Tiger Stadium will be when the season begins Sept. 26." LSU AD Scott Woodward following the SEC's decision to play a league-only schedule "sent an email to season-ticket holders that said season-ticket holders and student tickets will be prioritized when stadium reductions are officially made" (Baton Rouge ADVOCATE, 8/1).
A&M FOCUSED ON SEASON TICKETS: In Houston, Brent Zwerneman reported that Texas A&M has 45,000 season-ticket holders for football, and AD Ross Bjork "intends to provide a seat for every one of them this season." Bjork said that the school "intends to play at 50 percent under Gov. Greg Abbott's current edict because of the COVID-19 pandemic." He added that Kyle Field can hold "about 110,000 fans, meaning capacity under the current plan would be about 55,000 starting in September." Zwerneman noted the "downside" for the school "involves current students." Bjork said that the university "sells about 34,000 sports passes to students, and that number would need to be cut roughly in half (for football only) to meet the current capacity limits of Kyle." That decision was "met with some derision on social media, considering A&M prides itself on being the trademarked 'Home of the 12th Man.'" Bjork: "We know there’s never 100 percent redemption of our tickets. ... That's just the nature of people who have things come up, or whatever the reason might be" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/1).
