As the SEC scrambles to figure out how much of a product it will be able to put on the field this year, and whether that product will include cross-conference games, something to keep in mind about those neutral site checks Sankey and Company would like to preserve: they’re going to shrink ($$).
That still doesn’t solve the financial riddle. Stokan said that if there are no fans in attendance then, “We can’t make the payout” to each school, because the revenue is derived from tickets and in-stadium sponsorships. (The TV revenue is tied to conference deals.)
Stokan said he and his staff have been modeling scenarios of 20, 30 or 50 percent capacity, and they would still have to negotiate with the schools on how many tickets they get, with Mercedes-Benz Stadium on costs, and with the schools on the payout, considering not only less attendance but the cost of added safety protocols. Stokan mentioned providing masks to fans as a possibility.
You have to wonder how far down the rabbit hole they’re willing to go.
Get The Picture 
I just can’t see those Labor Day games happening unless Mickey finds a way to make everyone whole because there’s no way they will have fans in the Benz.
If they are able to accommodate fans, I’ve decided I’m not going because the idea of riding mass transit or parking close to the stadium just seems to be a dicey proposition. $70+ for a round trip ride share is too expensive. With the limited number of tickets that could be available, the secondary market will likely be too rich for what I’m willing to pay.
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How far are these people willing to go? Great question…
https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2020/07/inside-college-footballs-coronavirus-information-war.html
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How far will they go – as deep as it takes to grab the mother lode.
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For what it’s worth, my brother is the creative lead for a group that right now is in the middle of getting approved and developed a really cool program for huge venues (specifically the Benz) to allow for the safety protocols both for workers and support staff as well as fans. Kemp actually went down in person to their town along with almost 30 folks, government as well as big businesses to see the presentation.
Of note, masks provided for patrons as well a 2 minute “best practices and fan expectations” video that fans will be asked to access with a QR code when they scan their ticket. Same video on Screens throughout the stadium and and Jumbotron pre-game and again at half-time, with non-voiceover slides periodically throughout the game.
Serious stuff. Big sticking point right now is still working out a liability protection issues in state legislature right now which would grant immunity for large event venues from frivolous lawsuits if said venue complies with all the protocols which may include staff whose sole job is to monitor compliance throughout the stadium.
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Very cool, and good to see that there are people who realize we are going to have to deal with COVID or something like it for the foreseeable future. Putting best practice information in place and letting people make their own choices is a good move.I also agree that if the best practice information is provided to the best of the venue’s ability they should be absolved of responsibility.
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Liability issue is nonsensical. Put massive signs up that say enter at your own risk. Put a disclaimer on the tickets. No decent trial lawyer is going to file a lawsuit on behalf of someone who got COVID at an event that had signs saying “Danger, you will likely get COVID if you enter.”
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They can make the payment, they just don’t want to make the payment.
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I might be willing to go to an open air stadium like Sanford if I thought there would be widespread acceptance and use of masks and/or limited seating, but there’s no way in hell I am going to a closed dome like Mercedes-Benz.
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The Benz being a controlled environment, why couldn’t an antiviral agent be administered through the HVAC’s forced air? Creating a “safe zone” so to speak.
You’d have to turn the air over prior to admittance to sanitize the atmosphere and increase volume some to keep a positive pressure inside the space (Keep outside air outside). Apply an antiviral/sanitizing agent (bleach in an uber mild solution?) on the supply side with misters in the ducting. With the agent already in the air a virus would be eliminated as soon as you exhaled. As the air is recirculated across the coils again you’ll accomplish most of the purification through distillation as the air moves across the coils.
It’s done in clean rooms at hospitals and research facilities. This would be the same just on a really big scale.
Just a thought.
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Do they have that at the Benz? If they can do what hospitals and research facilities do then I think they advertise that in hopes of having crowds. It would be nice, but I’m a little skeptical.
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They do not. The company I was with when it was built looked at the mechanical as a project we wanted to bid. They are climate controlled and the system is stern but It would have to be re-engineered to handle something like that. Benny D is correct below, it would be impossible to make it a sterile or “clean” space in a building that operates the way a dome does but you could certainly sanitize to inhibit a virus that way. It would cost a fortune, tho.
One thing to consider is the crowds at the gate. That is an unavoidable chokepoint.
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If they’d open it up at your own risk, it sell out.
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Dont you mean “at everyone’s risk they’ll come into contact with after the game?”
If they’ll quarantine in there for two weeks and pay for the tests and treatments, then go for it.
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Agreed, Chuckdawg, at least down South.
Regardless of precautionary measures, there will always be risk, but there are enough people, especially down South (for good of for ill) that would go regardless of risk, even if there were no precautions. Certainly enough to pay premium ticket prices for limited seating, 20%, 30% capacity.
On the back end, behind the scenes technically and logistically, so I was told, for any indoor venues, especially huge ones is Not so much attempting to convert the entire stadium into a clean room with lab conditions with anti-viral agents, but simply keeping the air DRY and positively pressured and mapping/redirecting airflow patterns. The other two major venue issues I was told are how to continuously tend and disinfect the bathrooms (like at the Charlotte airport where they have continuous attendants) and signage. It’s mind boggling to think about mapping out people flow, which areas to assign seating, restricting certain areas to create walking lanes, stationing hand sanitizer stations, having reserve masks for patrons who might break or lose masks.
Money talks, and the promise of it certainly incentivizes People to do elaborate things.
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UV in air handlers is the future.
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We as a K-12 system are looking at the same stuff. We are also experiencing with our teachers that they are rightfully concerned about their own exposure when they return to school. They’ve all been looking for any way possible to protect themselves and there is so much conflicting information out there they grasp at straws, and some of the things they want to do will affect the potential for infection in a not good way. I’ve said it here and in some closed door meetings: If the kids go back in the buildings everyone except the very few that are immune will be COVID positive. I don’t see anyway around it. The Lil’ Dumplins (As we call them here ’cause WE’RE NOT ALLOWED TO CALL OTHER PEOPLES CHILDREN SNOT BUCKETS, CPADAWG) will be impossible to keep distant and masked, or even sanitary.
It appears the model for all organizations that require gathering is the one your first post addressed: You take every measure you can to keep everyone safe, make sure everyone knows the recommendations, make sure everyone knows the risks. After that? Yo pays yo money and yo takes yo chances.
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The EOC of florida is closed bc they all got the Rona. The place that helps manage it.
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