White House coronavirus experts told Iowa officials last week that the state had the ninth-highest COVID-19 case rate in the country. They have since revised that finding: Now the state is the country's worst coronavirus hot spot.
Despite that, Iowa State University Athletic Director Jamie Pollard said the school plans to allow up to 25,000 fans into Jack Trice Stadium for the Cyclones' season-opening football game against the University of Louisiana-Lafayette on Sept 12.
The 25,000 figure is the number of season tickets sold. If those ticket holders decide not to attend the game, their tickets will not be resold. The stadium's normal capacity is 61,500.
Pollard said he expects the total number of spectators to fall as fans discover the socially distanced seats they are assigned.
Iowa State University Athletic Director Jamie Pollard said he expects the total number of spectators to fall as fans discover the socially distanced seats they are assigned
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There will be no tailgating allowed, and masks must be worn inside the stadium.
Iowa State President Wendy Wintersteen and her staff consulted with school scientists and others on allowing fans in during the university's home football games, according to The Gazette in Cedar Rapids.
Pollard said that on Monday the school's scientists "painted a picture that the university could stay open, it didn't need to go online… and the athletic department is going to be part of that".
But he added that if those policies aren't followed, fans won't be in attendance again.
The Gazette said Pollard acknowledged financial motivations behind the decision to let in fans. "There are economic issues－I have 215 staff members," he said.
Budget shortfall
Iowa State University in Ames has about 35,000 students and is faced with a $17.4 million budget shortfall.
The White House report, which said Iowa has the highest rate of cases per capita in the nation, listed Polk County－home to Des Moines, Iowa's capital and largest city－among the "red zones "where the situation is particularly bad.
A recent New York Times tally said Iowa had the highest per capita rate of COVID-19 cases: 220 per 100,000 people. Over the past week, the state has seen an average of 1,187 cases per day, the Times reported, an increase of 127 percent from the average two weeks earlier.
As of Tuesday, there have been at least 65,477 cases and 1,122 deaths in Iowa since the beginning of the pandemic, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.
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Pollard cited his school's cutting of four sports as an example of what can happen if football games can't be held and revenue is lost from attendance, in-stadium advertising and TV contracts.
Pollard said he believes Iowa State athletics will be able to survive financially due to a 10 percent payroll cut for all staff in his department and the school cutting 20 percent from its annual budget. But without football, it will be tough, he said.
Separately, the administration of President Donald Trump on Tuesday said it will not join a global effort to develop, make and distribute a coronavirus vaccine, in part because the World Health Organization is involved, The Washington Post reported.
