Will Clemson students be allowed in the stadium during 2020 season?
Clemson Athletics announced Thursday afternoon that it had been approved by the South Carolina Board of Commerce for a plan to have a limited number of fans inside of Death Valley for football games this fall.
The number? Right around 19,000, or 23 percent.
In a release detailing the plan, Clemson said that fans will be physically distanced around the stadium in pods of either two or four. Tiger fans will be required to wear a mask at all times except when eating and drinking, and each fan will be given a specified gate of entry.
In addition tailgating is discouraged while trailers and large gatherings are prohibited. Parking lots open up three hours before game time and will close 60 minutes after the game ends, which will be greatly reduced from the usual hours for lots.
While all of those details are important and give us an idea of what a Clemson football game day will look like, there’s one detail that has yet to be discussed in great length: The students.
We do know the answer to the overarching question, though: Will Clemson students be allowed in the stadium? Yes. Here’s what the release says:
"The proposed blended model provides both the opportunity for social distancing in the stands and the ability to include as many IPTAY donors and students as possible during the season. IPTAY donors will be assigned seating in order of giving level and priority points, with caps on the amount of tickets available to each account."
Update (10:36 a.m. on Friday): Dan Radakovich told the media Friday morning that Clemson students will be seated in the south upper deck this fall.
How many Clemson students still remains to be seen, and it should expected that it will be a limited number
No matter what you think about how tickets should be distributed, the truth of the matter remains that Clemson is likely going to give priority seating to IPTAY donors.
Radakovich told he media that we can expect about 2,200 or 2,300 tickets to be given to the students of the 19,000 in the stadium. The band will be on the hill and 200 tickets will be the max for visiting ACC teams.
How those student tickets are distributed is yet to be determined, but I’d imagine if you’re a freshman, you might have a hard time getting a ticket- that’s just pure speculation, though.
Students have yet to return to campus officially and there are questions as to how it will work when & if they do return- as we’ve seen some outbreaks on campuses across the country recently- and it will be interesting to see how this is addressed through the athletic department if they are on campus when games are being played.
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