Breaking: Miami Athletics announces stadium capacity and safety plan for the 2020 season opener

The University of Miami announced today its seating/attendance policy for the 2020 season opener on Thursday, September 10, 2020 against UAB. A maximum capacity of 13,000 fans will be allowed to attend the game. Obviously season ticket holders will have the first options to purchase individual tickets for the game. According to the release, if they decline to purchase tickets, they have three choices with what to do with their invested funds: they can roll them over into the Canes COVID-19 relief fund, they can have them credited towards the 2021 season, or they can request a refund. All seat locations, parking, and tenure will also be rolled over to the 2021 season. The release did not address the priority of who will be contacted first, but I would assume donor ranking would certainly be the deciding basis. The release did state that students would be communicated with regarding attendance by separate email, but it did not indicate when that would happen or how many students might be selected to attend.

As per the release, Hard Rock Stadium will have socially distant seating clusters, touchless security screenings at metal detectors at stadium entry points, upgraded air filters, cashless concession stands, and many other state of the art features to ensure the most sanitary environment possible. All fans and stadium personnel will have to wear masks when not actively drinking or eating. In fact, Hard Rock Stadium became the first stadium in the world to receive GBAC STAR accreditation from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council. I’m not sure what that entails exactly, but HRS underwent a 20-step program on cleaning, disinfection, and infections disease prevention to obtain it, so that can only be a good thing.

Keep in mind this is just for the opener. The release does not address how the school will handles games moving forward for the rest of the season. I would imagine they want to see how this goes, and with over two weeks until the following home tilt against FSU, they have time to get that and the other games set up.

In any event, kudos to the Hard Rock Stadium brass, the Miami Dolphins, and the Hurricanes for being able to get this plan in place. Hopefully it will be a success, and some of our fans will be able to watch our guy play a full season of football.