The Big Ten announced Wednesday that it will shift to following local health guidelines for attendance. Credit: Christian Harsa | Assistant Photo Editor
A year after sports were completely halted, March 2021 is showing signs of a return to normalcy for the Big Ten.
The Big Ten announced Wednesday that all remaining conference contests will now follow local health guidelines as opposed to the conference-wide approach taken during the fall and winter seasons. Current Ohio policies allow for up to 30 percent capacity at outdoor sporting events and 25 percent for indoor events.
“The goal is to transition from a conference-wide approach to local decision-making in consultation with public health departments and university medical experts,” the Big Ten’s release said.
The policy update also includes spring football events, opening the door for Ohio State to allow fans at its spring game April 17 despite athletic director Gene Smith’s declaration that they would not be selling tickets to the scrimmage.
Ohio Stadium at 30 percent capacity holds 31,483 fans.
The Ohio State Department of Athletics responded to the conference’s announcement with a statement about next steps. The statement said that it does “not anticipate any changes” in attendance policies for the upcoming weekend’s events.
“In response to the Big Ten Conference announcement today regarding attendance policies at home athletics events for its member schools, the Ohio State Department of Athletics will work internally and with Columbus Public Health to formalize appropriate attendance figures, mapping and social distancing within our athletics venues and facilities,” the statement said. “Once we have determined the attendance in our venues, beyond the current protocols of only family members of student-athletes and coaches, we will share that information.”
This story was updated Wednesday at 1:58 p.m. with the Ohio State Department of Athletics’ statement.
