Visiting Fans Likely To Be Shut Out
One Chicagoland conference moving in direction of no road fans, will others join?
It’s unlikely one of Chicagoland’s largest suburban conferences will allow fans of road teams inside stadiums for football games this spring, The Kerr Report has learned.
While the eight schools in the North Suburban Conference have not finalized plans, administrators are moving in the direction towards allowing only home fans to attend games this spring.
“That’s the way schools are going,” said one NSC athletic director.
Schools in the North Suburban Conference are Stevenson, Libertyville, Lake Zurich, Warren, Lake Forest, Mundelein, Zion-Benton and Waukegan.
Monday, the Illinois High School Association, with guidance from the Illinois Department of Public Health, set a spectator limit for spring outdoor sports, that includes football, at 20 percent capacity.
Conversations over the past few days have prioritized home fans for the 20 percent allotment, according to conference officials.
“We still have limits so who is part of the 20 percent? Our first (priority) are students and parents,” said one NSC administrator.
But not road fans.
According to conference sources, one of the challenges in allowing road team fans to attend games is tracking the number that will come. For example, for a team that has a 2,000 capacity stadium, the 20 percent cap equals 400 fans. Coming up with ticketing procedures—such as 4 tickets for every varsity player—that comes as close to meeting the 400 fan allotment as possible is a more efficient process when only seating home fans, said a source.
“If you open it up to the general population, you have no idea who will come,” said an NSC administrator. “It’s not a tenable situation if you have (thousands) of people show up.”
Cleaning and contract tracing recommendations from IDPH heighten the obstacles in letting outside fans onto school property, said a source.
All ticketing will be pre-sold to avoid situations with walk ups arriving before the game wanting to purchase a ticket on site. Everyone who attends the game will be required to have a ticket, whether it be in paper or digital form.
Administrators said they are interpreting the capacity restriction as 20 percent of ‘seating capacity’. This does not include common areas inside and outside the stadium.
Some NSC stadiums, such as Warren, Lake Zurich and Lake Forest, have large open areas where hundreds of fans often gather and stand to watch games rather than use seated grandstands. Officials said they are still working through plans on how to address ‘standing room only’ areas so they fall within public health guidelines.
Although NSC schools are all moving in the same direction on interpreting the capacity limit, decisions are being left to the individual schools.
Sources said decisions made now are not permanent. Depending on updated public health guidelines throughout the spring, it’s possible there is a scenario where more fans are allowed during the six-week season and that includes granting access to visitors.
Administrators are confident in the current planning stages for football after the conclusion of the basketball season, which ends statewide this weekend. IDPH recommended 50 spectators for basketball games, and holding those events this winter is assisting in putting together a model for football.
How game day logistics are managed is not a unified conference decision. There may be some variance on how each school runs game day operations, said a source.
And while schools are still working through details, with just over a week before opening night, all NSC schools appear to be in agreement in one area—with a hard attendance cap at 20 percent, home fans are in, road fans out and to start the season, will be asked to stay home and watch games via stream.
“We don’t think so,” a NSC source said regarding allowing visiting fans to attend.
While no official announcements have been made, schools from other Chicagoland conferences like the Central Suburban and Mid-Suburban leagues are moving in the same direction as the North Suburban, a source said.