ATHENS – Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity shared insight into how different the Bulldogs’ home games will look and sound amid reduced attendance models, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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McGarity, speaking on Wednesday in a Zoom interview with reporters, said no final decisions have been made about tailgating campus, the Dawg Walk, or the presence of cheerleader and band.
“We are not even out of August yet, so we have a lot of time, the entire month of September to evaluate,” McGarity said, hours after Georgia released a attendance plan that supports 20 to 25 percent attendance at Sanford Stadium.
“It’s a long, long time before we have our first home game.”
Georgia opens the season on Sept. 26. In Arkansas, where McGarity said tailgating would be banned.
However, the Bulldogs’ first home game is not until October 3 against Auburn.
How players enter the stadium remains to be determined, but McGarity replied that any form of a DawgWalk needs to be significantly modified.
“Exercising social distance is not really conducive to the Dawg Walk, as we know it today,” McGarity said. “It really is the only way our team can get into the stadium right now, so I’m sure it will be adjusted to some degree. We just did not apply for those plans for when we start in October. ”
McGarity said Georgia needs to be ready to pivot quickly over various stadium issues if CDC guidelines or legislation need to change.
COVID-19 conditions can and have shifted rapidly, with local, state and federal legislation proving just as fluid.
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Senior Georgia Deputy Athletic Director Josh Brooks used several different models to maximize Sanford Stadium attendance while still complying with SEC protocol and safety guidelines.
‘I spread out the Pythagorean theorem and calculated the seat density and width, and in fact you have to factor in the pitch as if to talk about difference when making separation, “Brooks explained,” because you have an 11-inch height between each chair, it can cause you to participate in separation.
‘The key was to paint the six-foot painting between each block (of seats). ”
McGarity provided added clarity to the information the school released earlier in the day about the reduced session schedule, including:
• Reduction of student tickets will be uniform with the stadium plan, making more than 3,000 tickets available from the original 16,000 allocation.
• Fans must wear masks to enter and move Sanford Stadium, but once they are seated and safe social distance, they will not be required to wear them.
• Skyboxes will work with 50 percent capacity.
• The allocation of tickets for Georgia for the Florida game (Nov. 7) will be about 9,000, with the school following the plan to reduce Jacksonville Jaguars stadium (currently 25 percent).
Georgia and SEC schools are exploring options to create “more atmosphere” amid reduced seating, including artificial noise.
• The Georgian athletic budget adjustments will be discussed at the September 11 board meeting.
• Several models for attendance were investigated, with up to 50 percent capacity considered.
• There is no “drop dead date” to determine the status of the September 26 opening.
• UGA will have masks to hand out at the gates in case fans should forget or lose them.
Fans will need to display a parking pass and ticket (s) after the game to park in athletically controlled lots on game day.
• The SEC athletic directors’ vote not to allow fans to buy tickets was unanimous.
• The stadium plan is flexible, depending on COVID-19 statistics and local, state and federal guidelines.
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