Philadelphia city officials just announced that fans will not be allowed in for Eagles and Phillies games this year, so the question is, will other cities follow suit with their teams? What about at smaller venues like the War Memorial, can they bring in spectators? Or what about something bigger like the Carrier Dome? If so, what would an SU football or basketball game even look like?
“I just don’t see how it can be safe to be in a large stadium with a lot of other fans. Everybody excited, yelling, screaming, cheering. I just don’t see how that would be safe," Dr. Helen Jacoby, an infectious disease specialist at St. Joseph's hospital in Syracuse, said.
Jacoby expects most, if not all major sporting events will be played in empty venues in the upcoming months.
“We’re trying to avoid any type of large gathering and these stadiums hold tens of thousands of people. I think it’s very unlikely that games will be played in person. It just seems like the exact situation where you can get spreading events," Dr. Jacoby said.
Last month, SU athletic director John Wildhack said during a Zoom call that they’re building models for the number of fans that would be allowed inside the Carrier Dome if the state gives the green light. Even if it’s just 33 percent, that’s still about 16,000 bodies in seats.
“It seems to me you’d have to have each family, group of spectators more than six feet apart because even if you’re yelling, if you have the virus it’ll be projected further than if you’re just talking," Jacoby said.
Limited capacity would most likely be just one piece of the pandemic safety puzzle.
“I think there will be some kind of social distancing, there will be mandatory mask use. There will probably be screening of fans at the entrance, temperature check, questions about symptoms. I think that would be the minimum," Jacoby said.
As it stands, Governor Cuomo isn’t allowing fans at pro sporting events right now, but hasn’t weighed in on college sports yet. Even if he allows spectators at say, the Dome, city officials can make their own crowd calls.
“Safety has to be the top priority. It has been, it’s gotten us to this point. It needs to continue to be and sometimes that’s difficult and sometimes it involves sacrifice," Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said.
With fans banned at outdoor stadiums like Citi Field, Yankee Stadium, and New Era field, it seems unlikely that an indoor site like the Dome will see spectators this fall. On a positive note, a quiet “Loudhouse” is better than an empty "Loudhouse." If football is played at all, that’ll be a win in itself.