BYU Hopes To Eventually Have 24,000 Fans At Home Football Games This Fall

PROVO, Utah – BYU football announcing 6,000 fans could attend its home opener against Troy on Sept. 26 was a smaller number than many expected. But it’s only for one game.

The BYU Athletic Department published a statement on Friday to give some clarity on for attendance for home football games this fall.

In response to questions about the university's recent announcement regarding attendance at home football games: pic.twitter.com/WfdWxhsFhe

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) September 11, 2020

“BYU is excited about the opportunity to have fans in attendance at LaVell Edwards Stadium this fall. In an effort to best ensure a safe stadium environment, the university is taking a game-by-game phased-in approach regarding attendance at home games.

“As announced, the home opener versus Troy on Sept. 26 will have approximately 6,000 in attendance. BYU hopes to increase attendance game-by-game, after carefully monitoring for a safe and positive stadium experience. The university developed a comprehensive plan that divides LaVell Edwards Stadium into four separate sections to allow for greater distancing and minimizes contact between the total number of attendees.

“By carefully managing each section as a separate outdoor event, BYU hopes to eventually have up to 24,000 fans in the stadium (6,000 in each section). The plan has been reviewed and approved by the Utah Department of Health and local health departments. We ask all those who attend to please follow state and BYU requirements, as this will play an important role in increasing attendance at future games.”

BYU fans at home football games in 2020

BYU currently has five home football games for the 2020 football season. The games include Troy, UTSA, Texas State, Western Kentucky, and North Alabama, with the possibility of more games added in the future.

A percentage of the available tickets for each home game will be set aside for BYU ROC students and families of the players on the team. BYU senior linebacker Isaiah Kaufusi said this week players had been told “they would be taken care of” in regards to tickets.

Once BYU can get a 24,000-fan capacity, it would be near the top for the highest number of fans in a stadium at a college football game this fall. BYU would be trailing only UAB, Texas, LSU, Tennessee, and Texas A&M who are allowing at least 25,000 fans at each of their venues.

BYU is currently 1-0 after a 55-3 win over Navy on Labor Day night. The Cougars next game is on September 19th against the Army Black Knights.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.