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Penn State Athletics Releases Another Football Attendance Survey

Penn State Athletics has released yet another survey collecting feedback from fans and season ticket holders on how comfortable they’d feel heading to Beaver Stadium this fall amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The survey, emailed to an unspecified number of fans Wednesday, asked participants to answers questions relating to Penn State’s upcoming football season. Some questions included how many games they’d attend, their familiarity with mobile ticketing, and their interest in virtual tailgates if in-person festivities aren’t an option.

The questionnaire also asked fans to describe how important some factors are in their decisions to attend Penn State football games. These included their health, public health guidelines, a potential coronavirus vaccine, and testing availability.

Additionally, Penn State asked fans to provide input on what health precautions they’d like to see taken at games. These included mandatory mask-wearing, sanitation stations, and socially distancing seating and lines, among others.

Fans were also asked to describe how soon they’d feel comfortable attending games, ranging from September to next spring.

A particularly interesting question came when Penn State asked if fans would be willing to donate a portion of their season ticket allotment to allow for a “students only” game. So far, no concrete plans for such an event have been provided.

The survey will close on Sunday, August 2. Each recipient should receive a unique survey link.

“We continue to develop and review many scenarios for our attendance at our home events this fall, which include various levels of capacity at our venues,” Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Sandy Barbour said. “We are working closely with university, public health and government officials to develop an environment with a number of safeguards to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our student-athletes, coaches, staff, fans and community.”

Penn State released a similar survey back in June and received more than 13,000 responses form fans. Barbour said fans’ input will be used to better understand what aspects of a gameday are most important when planning for “an unprecedented COVID environment.”

To date, Penn State hasn’t rolled out any concrete plans for the upcoming football season. However, the Big Ten announced it would limit all fall sports, including football, to conference-only schedules. The Nittany Lions haven’t posted an updated slate of games yet.

Elsewhere in the Big Ten, some teams are laying the groundwork for the upcoming season. Yesterday, Ohio State announced it would cap attendance at 20% and ban tailgating to keep fans safe. Meanwhile, Rutgers said it won’t bring fans to Piscataway this fall, following the New York Jets and Giants’ decisions.

Earlier this month, Barbour said season ticket holders would likely be the only fans attending football games, should there be any.

Earlier Wednesday, Penn State announced eight undisclosed student-athletes had tested positive for the coronavirus. So far, the university hasn’t suspended practices or altered plans for sports this fall.

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About the Author

Matt DiSanto

Matt proudly served as Onward State’s managing editor for two years until graduating from Penn State in May 2022. Now, he’s off in the real world doing real things. Send him an email ([email protected]) or follow him on Twitter (@mattdisanto_) to stay in touch.

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