UND planning for full sports crowds in the fall, but ready to 'pivot' if needed
Apr. 16—UND has kicked off its season-ticket renewal campaign for the 2021-22 fall sports season.
It is doing so with the intention of having full venues.
As COVID-19 vaccines become widely available, the UND athletic department is proceeding with the assumption that crowds will not be limited again when fall sports programs begin play in August and September.
"We are going as if everything will be a full go," UND athletic director Bill Chaves said. "That is our anticipation. That's how we're selling our venues at this point. That's our default position. If we have to pivot, we would. But right now our assumption is we're selling full venues."
This season, UND hockey crowds in Ralph Engelstad Arena were capped at 3,000 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Ralph seats 11,643.
Fighting Hawks football crowds in the Alerus Center were capped at 4,000. The Alerus Center seats a little more than 12,000.
UND men's and women's basketball crowds were capped at 650 in the smaller Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
No UND crowds exceeded 35 percent of the venue's capacity during the 2020-21 sports season.
But COVID-19 vaccines are becoming widely available across the country, which could change the trajectory of the coronavirus pandemic by the summer and fall. In North Dakota, all residents ages 16 or older are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines.
According to the New York Times, 37.1 percent of North Dakotans have received at least one COVID-19 shot and 27.9 percent of the state has been fully vaccinated.
The Fighting Hawks are scheduled to open the fall season with back-to-back road games, then play their home opener Sept. 18 against Drake. That could be UND's first large-capacity event in a year-and-a-half.
