Texas Football Planning to Hold up to 50% Capacity
On Monday Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte sent an email to all Longhorn season ticket holders stating that Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium may be filled up to 50% capacity for the upcoming season. The full capacity for the stadium in Austin is 100,119 people.
The common “Big Ticket” package which is set for Longhorn students was not mentioned in the email.
In early June Texas Governor Greg Abbott also released an updated plan allowing for sporting venues to hold up to 50% capacity:
"Stadiums, whether it be where the Mavericks play or the Texas Rangers play or the Dallas Cowboys play, will be able to seat 50% capacity."
Thoughts
Texas is heading in the right direction and should expect other FBS Texas schools to follow. Fifty percent will allow maximum fan engagement and revenue for the Longhorn faithful, while also following Texas’s and the CDC’s strict protocol. This fifty percent plan adopted by the University of Texas will contrast with the school’s previous ruling of forty percent in-person class capacities, raising questions as to the safety of each policy and the role that school revenue plays in these safety determinations.
Del Conte has been clear that player safety is his main concern when making these decisions:
“And with that said, there have been a number of conversations across our nation about the health crisis we're in and how that impacts athletics this fall... I want to make one thing abundantly clear — financial ramifications and challenges will not play any part in our decision to play football or any of our sports.”
Del Conte continued, “If we can safely play under directives or guidelines that are established, we will. We continue to prepare for our seasons, and our teams that have been onboarded are training hard. We are planning on returning safely to play under the guidelines set forth by our medical teams, but rest assured, we will continue to keep Longhorn Nation abreast of adjustments, changes or updates."
