ORLANDO, Fla. – The University of Central Florida announced Monday that fans will be allowed at the team’s first home football game in 2020.
UCF Director of Athletics Danny White said the stadium will be at 25% capacity for its Oct. 3 game against Tulsa.
UCF freshman Erika Hanzelka said she’s excited about attending.
“I think that’s going to be a great way to kind of motivate the team and it will be good of them to have that support at a socially distanced level,” Hanzelka said. “I’m super excited for that and I hope that things work out.”
UCF freshman Brooke Mealey had similar feelings.
“I’m excited because it’s already a weird freshman experience we’re getting now,” Mealey said. “I don’t have any in-person classes, so it’s kind of hard for me to connect. At a football game it will be fun. Even of we’re kind of far apart, it will be somewhat of a freshman experience.”
Mealey added, however, there are some concerns.
“I’m sure the cases might go up a little bit but, honestly, I think it’s time to start opening up,” Mealey said. “We have to make steps at one point to open things back up, so I think this is a good step in the right direction. I think that they’re taking enough precautions that we’ll be OK.”
White said he hopes to have fans at more home games this fall.
With fewer fans at games this year, the university said it will lose a projected $10-14 million. The school noted there is also a projected $2 million loss because of additional COVID-19 expenses.
UCF said ticket information for the rest of the season will be released on Tuesday.
The university said tickets will be sold on a single-game basis and season-ticket holders will have multiple options this fall.
The school set up a fundraising campaign to meet the losses from this season.