Ohio State football: Big Ten to allow fans at spring games
By Coop Ledford
Today the Big Ten Conference announced that all member schools will be permitted to allow fans back in their stadiums for football games for spring football. Schools will set attendance policies based on local health guidelines.
Seeing nearly-empty stadiums across the Big Ten was quite a shocking sight last fall. Ohio Stadium, Beaver Stadium, and the Big House all pack well over 100,000 fans on any given Saturday- seeing just the families of players scattered throughout the stadiums was eerie.
As early as the Spring Game, which is scheduled for April 17 for the Ohio State football program, we should see fans back in the stadium, at a reduced capacity.
Ohio’s current health guidelines allow 1/3 capacity at outdoor sporting events, masks, and social distancing measures are still required. This means roughly 30,000 people could be in attendance for the Ohio State Spring Game next month.
It is unclear if the Ohio State football team will sell tickets to the game. OSU Athletic Director Gene Smith previously mentioned the school was hoping to reserve seats for medical personnel and first responders.
This is certainly a promising step towards normality. A limited number of fans should be present for the Spring Game, and the hope is a return to full capacity for the fall. That would be a really good thing after last year was void of any fans at all.
Roughly 25% of the Ohio population has started vaccination for COVID-19, and more mass-vaccination sites will be opening up this spring and summer. Every Ohioan will be eligible for the vaccine on March 29, current trajectories suggest a return to full capacity could be a real possibility by the time the fall season begins.
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Scarlet and Game will follow-up with any details regarding the Spring Game and/or stadium capacity.