KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The University of Kansas announced Monday that it will start its fall athletics season with no fans in the stands.
The announcement means no fans will be allowed to attend the KU Jayhawks football home opener against Coastal Carolina University scheduled for Sept 12. Tailgating will also be prohibited.
"Today I am writing to let you know that, at the advice of the Pandemic Medical Advisory Team, we will begin our fall athletics season without fans in attendance," Chancellor Douglas Girod said in a letter to the university. "We know this is disappointing to those of you who planned to be on campus to root for the Jayhawks. Our football, volleyball, soccer and cross country contests will not be the same without you there. But this is the right decision for our community at this time."
The university says it hopes to allow fans in its second home football game against Oklahoma State University on Oct, 3.
Other sports affected include volleyball, soccer and cross country.
KU Director of Athletics, Jeff Long gave an update to football season ticket holders shortly after the announcement.
He said the university was going to proceed with mailing out tickets on August 31 because he believes fans will eventually be allowed to attend games.
"Our ticket office staff is mailing football season tickets today, August 31, because we truly believe we will be able to host fans in David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium for Oklahoma State (Oct. 3), Iowa State (Oct. 31), Texas (Nov. 21) and TCU (Nov. 28)," Long said.
For fans who no longer wish to attend games this season have a variety of options on how to use their tickets:
- Receive a prorated credit to your account for future ticket purchases.
- Transfer the ticket balance to the Williams Education Fund for a deductible donation in support of our Jayhawk Relief Fund to assist us during the COVID-19 crisis. KU Endowment will provide a receipt if you are receiving no benefits related to tickets.
- Receive a refund on tickets for the games impacted.
- All accounts, regardless of level, that maintain or increase their donation level for the 2021 fund drive will have the ability to keep their 2020 ticket locations for Football & Men’s Basketball.
A full update on tickets and other athletic information can be found here.
Last week the university reported over 400 cases of COVID-19 on campus, causing several greek life houses to be quarantined.
