Texas Governor Increases Live Sporting Event Capacity to 50%

The new order is part of the state's "Phase 3" of reopening

As the state of Texas continues its current reopening trajectory, the outlook of sports returning in the fall continues to change. 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently increased seating capacity for live sporting events from the original 25% up to 50%. 

According to the Dallas Morning News: 

Abbott’s order for “Phase 3” of the state’s reopening covers professional, collegiate, and other similar sporting events, effective immediately.

“Stadiums, whether it be where the Mavericks play or the Texas Rangers play or the Dallas Cowboys play, will be able to seat [at] 50% capacity,” Abbott told KDFW-TV in Dallas late Wednesday.

This new rule would include home games for the Texas Longhorns, meaning we could conceivably see as many as 50,000 fans in DKR Memorial Stadium this fall according to current guidelines. It's a stark change from talk a month ago, when fans were wondering if there would be a college football season at all because of concerns over the novel coronavirus. 

Of course, there is still a long way to go before we get to the Longhorns' season opener against South Florida on Sept. 5.  We could see many things change between now and then. 

For now the Longhorns program is focused on getting players back on campus and started on voluntary offseason workouts. Texas officials will use a series of tests to ensure no players are currently infected before returning to campus as a few schools around the country have had athletes test positive for the virus over the past few days. 

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