A college football update from a major program

Dear Season Ticket Holder,

If the [football school] is able to have a 2020 football season, the capacity of [our stadium] will be reduced, or games could be held without fans as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. A final decision on capacity will be made at a later date in consultation with medical experts, University leadership, [our] Conference, and government officials/agencies.

"We have been working closely with a wide variety of leaders to ensure a safe and healthy environment for our student-athletes, coaches, fans and support staff associated with a game at [our stadium]. We will follow the direction that all of these agencies and experts continue to  provide during this challenging time." - [football school athletic director]

As a result, the following policies will be in effect for the 2020 football season:

There will be no football season tickets. Your status as a season ticket holder remains unchanged, and your season ticket location will be retained for the 2021 season.

If we are able to have fans at [our stadium], all home games will be sold on an individual game basis, with sales limited to current season ticket holders and students. There will be NO ticket sales to the general public.

If you elected to adjust your season ticket location/quantity during the June upgrade period, that new location/quantity will be retained for the 2021 season.

Details regarding a potential individual game sale will be communicated once a decision on playing with or without fans is finalized.

In the event that [football school] is able to have fans at any sporting event this season, all forms of ticketing will move to a mobile platform.

Season ticket holders will have three options to choose from regarding their previous payments for Preferred Seat Contributions (PSC) and season tickets: convert the previous payment to a tax-deductible athletic gift, apply payments toward the 2021 season or requesting a refund. Once a final decision is made, the athletic ticket office will follow up with additional details on how to request the option for your PSC and season tickets. Season ticket holders do not need to take any action at this time.

Additional communication regarding all ticketing scenarios will be distributed at a later date.

[hurrah for our team]!
[football school athletic department]

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I have yet to hear from Washington about my own season tickets - other than some vague statements about how they are working on it - but my sense is that there is lots of coordination among university athletic departments going on behind the scenes, so I will probably hear soon and expect it to be similar news.

I'll be curious to see how schools end up pricing the individual game tickets, and how they will divide them among the season ticket holders and the students. The students cheer more but one might conjecture that they are less likely to obey rules around social distancing and such. I will also be interested to see how they manage the process of getting whatever fans they allow into and out of the stadium (and of selling them food and drink).

Hat tip: football fan at football school