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West Virginia football looking at options with fans in stands

There are still decisions to be made regarding fans at West Virginia Mountaineers football games.
There are still decisions to be made regarding fans at West Virginia Mountaineers football games.

Now that the Big 12 Conference as set a schedule model with the full release expected in the near future, the next question immediately becomes what could football look like for fans at West Virginia?

To date there have been over 18,000 season-tickets sold heading into the 2020 season but officials are still working to determine what and how the fan experience will be handled this fall.

Looking at different colleges across the country, there have been different approaches with some allowing zero fans, some with limited capacity and everywhere in between. At West Virginia, officials continue to work through the issue with the ticket office and Mountaineer Athletic Club, according to Director of Athletics Shane Lyons in an interview with WVUSports.com.

Lyons suggests that it could be cut down to 20 or 30-percent of the 60,000-seat capacity of Milan Puskar Stadium which would allow for social distancing and to be spread throughout the stadium. But no decision has been made and won’t be made without discussions from the university, local and state health departments, medical experts and government bodies.

Lyons hopes that a decision could come within the next week or two but for now nothing is set in stone.

Hypothetically, if a capped attendance model is used the MAC will be using a system that they’ll work through to identify those individuals that will attend. If the Mountaineers do elect to use that 30-percent attendance method that would cover the current total of season ticket-holders.

However, if not it will likely be based on priority, according to Lyons, although those decisions are still up in the air but could be made within the next week or two with the season opener set for Sept. 12.

“You’re probably looking within the next week,” he said.

Once a seating capacity decision has been made, then officials must make determinations on concessions, restrooms and various other issues that must be addressed.

“It’s on and on the questions we have to address,” Lyons said.

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