Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick doesn’t think playing college football games without fans is possible.
With coronavirus ravaging the nation and shutting everything down, people are eager to know when we’ll be allowed to attend sporting events or if the games will happen with empty stands. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Swarbrick doesn’t think the latter can be an option for college football.
View this post on Instagram
“I don’t see a model where we play, at least any extended number of games, in facilities where we don’t have fans,” Swarbrick told ESPN. “College football is about the cheerleaders and the band and the campus environment on game day. We’re interested in solutions that allow us to have a traditional game-day experience.”
View this post on Instagram
“There might be a middle ground where you say, the first two games of the season, you might have to make some accommodations,” he continued. “Maybe you only have students in attendance and you don’t invite other fans. I couldn’t see us going past a very limited example of that.”
View this post on Instagram
I agree with Swarbrick that playing games in empty stadiums can’t really be an option. It just doesn’t make sense and it’s not what football is all about.
Now, if it’s the only option, then I think fans will come together to accept it. None of us are cheering for that outcome though.
View this post on Instagram
Having said that, letting only students in is also not going to be an option at all. If only Notre Dame students are let in, donors and boosters are going to riot.
Imagine writing fat checks for years and years to the Fighting Irish, and then being told you can’t attend games but some drunk college students can.
The wealthy boosters — the ones the school needs to keep happy — will rightfully lose their minds.
View this post on Instagram
We’ll see what happens, but I see no situation unfolding where students are let in and all other fans are kept out of college football games.