Florida State University Football Game Draws Criticism After Large Crowds, No Masks Photographed

Professional sports and major events have all lost their live audiences at events due to the coronavirus pandemic, but a crowd attending a Florida State University football game against Georgia Tech on Saturday has led to major criticism over the school’s policy regarding the capacity of fans that can be present in the stadium.

The school, located in Tallahassee, announced in August that they would be limiting attendance for home games at Doak Campbell Stadium to a 20-25% capacity this season. The stadium, where the D1 Seminole play, can hold up to 80,000 people, putting max capacity at16,000-20,000 people.

Naturally, as photos surfaced of the game, showing those numbers in attendance, many expressed outrage that it was allowed to happen, stating it would have a negative effect in just a few weeks because of a likely increase in COVID-19 cases.

Others pointed out that distancing didn’t appear to be happening, despite the number of people able to attend the game being greatly reduced in comparison to normal. They also noted a lack of mask-wearing.

Concerns also arose as a lightning storm forced a delay—meaning people would be grouped together in close quarters for safety from the weather—but not the virus.

However, some still felt that seeing crowds in attendance was a wonderful thing, and praised the school for letting a sense of normalcy back into lives.

While Florida State isn’t the only stadium allowing fans, not all Division I teams are following suit—with some completely forgoing their seasons altogether. The Big Ten—which consists of the University of Illinois, Indiana University, University of Iowa, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University, Rutgers University and University of Wisconsin-Madison—canceled all games.