With news of Texas and Mississippi lifting Covid-19 restrictions, hope is on the horizon. Alabama governor, Kay Ivey, made the announcement that she is lifting the state’s Covid-19 restrictions April 9th and does not intend on extending it beyond that date.

This is huge news when it comes to seating capacities at sporting events for the remainder of the spring season. I have been very vocal about the student opt-in process this year at the University of Alabama, as well as the overall lack of seating compared to other sporting events this past Covid-19 season.

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According to ESPN, most NFL teams that allowed fans in stadiums this past season, had a capacity of around 20-25%. The Super Bowl filled Raymond James Stadium about 1/3 of its capacity.

The University of Alabama allowed Bryant Denny Stadium to be filled to 20% capacity this year. However, Coleman Coliseum was only at 13% capacity with 18% of tickets going to students. Coleman had the opportunity to hold an additional 1,000 seats while still remaining at the 20% capacity threshold. Alabama baseball tickets are distributed on a per game bases, but also includes limited seating.

Looking ahead to the lift of the mask mandate and open bars and restaurants, we should see a return to normalcy with the remaining games on schedule for spring sports such as baseball and softball.

Ole Miss put out a statement this past week in regard to updated attendance for their sporting events. The announcement stated the university plans to double the amount of student tickets for each baseball game with plans to continue to increase ticket sales as the season goes on.

Alabama has yet to put out a statement as nothing has changed with seating capacities while still under a “Safer at Home” order.

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