On Monday, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne said he remains optimistic about a relatively normal football season.
“Our hope and plan right now is to play this fall with a full schedule and a full stadium,” Byrne said in an interview posted to Twitter by the SEC Network account.
Alabama president Stuart Bell made similar statements on March 30.
Still, with cases continuing to increase in some areas of the country, it’s hard to believe everything will be business as usual in September. Could fans really return to Bryant-Denny Stadium this fall?
It seems Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, would say yes.
“If the virus is so low that even in the general community the risk is low, then I could see filling a third of the stadium or half the stadium so people could be six feet apart,” Fauci said to Peter King in a recent interview concerning the NFL. “I mean, that’s something that is again feasible depending on the level of infection.”
Fauci’s interview with King highlighted several steps the country still has to take before America can safely think about hosting games in stadiums empty or otherwise. Still, it’s comforting to see the face of the American response to COVID-19 discuss the possibility that members of the general public could cheer on their football teams later this year.
Although Byrne hopes to see a packed stadium this fall, Alabama’s athletic director said the school would adjust according to guidance from medical experts.
“It would be a dramatic reduction in what you’re attendance would be,” Byrne said. ""We’re fortunate right now we still have that opportunity to give it some time to see where we go with this, and see where testing develops, to see where the vaccine develops and see what therapeutic drugs develop.”
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Andrew Bone, of BamaInsider.com, is also a real estate broker in the state of Alabama.
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