AMES — Feeling pressure from health and other public officials, Iowa State University on Wednesday reversed what on Monday had been the publicly declared intention of the school to allow up to 25,000 fans to attend the Sept. 12 opener against Louisiana.
Season ticket holders were to be given priority, and no tailgating or walk-up tickets were to be allowed, and those policies remain in place.
The game against the Rajin Cajuns — who were 11-3 last season — will kickoff at 11 a.m. and will be televised by ESPN.
Iowa State, 7-6 in 2019, has a bye Sept. 19 and then travels to TCU Sept. 26 before returning home to face Oklahoma Oct. 3. Other home dates include Oct. 10 (Texas Tech), Nov. 7 (Baylor), Nov. 21 (Kansas State) and Dec. 5 (West Virginia). No decision on attendance has been made for any game beyond the opener.
Story County leads the nation in terms of increase of positive COVID-19 tests in the past seven days. Johnson County, home of the University of Iowa, was second nationally in seven-day rate of increase, with the two college-heavy counties pushing Iowa into the unwanted spot as lead state in weekly increase.
The decision from university president Wendy Wintersteen comes after some business owners questioned how ISU could invite 25,000 fans into Jack Trice Stadium (capacity tops 60,000) but taverns and other businesses are under a two-week closure order from Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds.
Iowa State Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard issued the following press release:
“Our department staff and I have worked very closely with Dr. Wintersteen and her leadership team throughout the summer as we jointly developed plans for this fall’s football season. Over the weekend, Dr. Wintersteen gave our working group the approval to move forward with the plans that were jointly developed. Our department announced those plans on Monday, which included allowing fans, who purchased season tickets, to attend the first game.
President Wintersteen shared with me on Tuesday evening that, after weighing feedback she has received from the community, she has decided to reverse the decision. As a result, we will play the season opener without fans.
Our department has always taken great pride in working hand-in-hand with the university and this situation is no different. We are in this together and will do everything we can to support Dr. Wintersteen and her leadership team in their efforts to lead our institution during very challenging times.
Although it is disappointing there won’t be fans at the opener, our institution’s leadership team is still committed to having spectators at future games, if it can be done safely. Weighing how our campus community responds to the recent surge in positive COVID cases will be a significant factor as to whether we can have fans at future games. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and make a decision regarding fans for the Oklahoma game (Oct. 3) at a later date.”
