Florida State football fans not wearing a mask during home games "will be asked to put on a mask or leave the event," according to Jim Henry of the TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT. The updated policy goes into effect "immediately ahead of FSU’s Oct. 3 contest against Jacksonville State." FSU students planning to attend home football games for the reminder of the season "must test negative for COVID-19 during the week prior to games," and those who do not get tested during the available periods "will not be eligible for a football ticket." Students -- allotted 4,000 tickets for each home game this season -- "must also sit in their assigned seats at home games." During FSU’s Sept. 12 home opener against Georgia Tech, images of fans and students in the Doak Campbell Stadium crowd of 17,538 not wearing masks as required "led to criticism across social media regarding the school’s ability to enforce" its policy (TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT, 9/25).
FANS STAYING AWAY IN MIAMI: In West Palm Beach, Hal Habib notes as of Wednesday, three days before kickoff of its game against FSU, Miami "still had trouble finding 13,000" fans, which is the "'capacity' of Hard Rock Stadium in this coronavirus era." Saturday's game "could be the third football game in three tries in which there was no need to for a cap." Habib: "Credit officials at the stadium for taking extraordinary measures to make fans feel safe." But attending a game in '20 "means no tailgating, no congregating, no students section." Habib: "That sense of community, that sense of One when the home team reaches the end zone? High-fiving the fan next to you whom you don’t even know? That has been replaced by artificial noise orchestrated by a deejay, piping in voices from ghosts who decided they’ll pass" (PALM BEACH POST, 9/25).
