No fans at UConn games

Attendance at Gampel will be limited to families of players and coaches

UConn has decided to hold its men’s and women’s basketball games without fans at the start of the 202021 season due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The school announced Monday attendance at Gampel Pavilion will be limited initially to the families of student-athletes and coaches.

All home games will be held at Gampel Pavilion this season, with some returning to Hartford’s XL Center next fall.

“I would like to thank the Department of Public Health and the Department of Economic and Community Development for their guidance expertise throughout this process,” UConn athletic director Dave Benedict said in a release. “I know some of our fans will be disappointed but their health and safety, along with the health and safety of our student-athletes, staff and university community, is our top priority.”

The school said the plan could be altered if COVID-19 conditions improve over the course of the season.

The announcement comes in light of Gov. Ned Lamont’s order to roll back the state’s reopening phase amid a surge in cases. Connecticut has seen 5,759 new cases over the last seven days, or 23 per day per 100,000 residents.

Officials at UConn were hoping as little as a few weeks ago that about 1,5002,000 fans (about 15-20

percent capacity) might be admitted to home games.

The UConn women are scheduled to tip off their season against Quinnipiac on Nov. 28 in the Hall of Fame Challenge at Mohegan Sun Arena. Their first game at Gampel is slated for Dec. 15 against Butler. The UConn men are expected to play at least a few non-conference games at Gampel starting around the official start of the season on Nov. 25. They also play in games at Mohegan Sun Arena on Dec. 1, 3 and possibly 5 (NC State). Mohegan Sun has yet to announce whether fans will be allowed at those games.

Both programs averaged over 9,000 fans per home game last season (the women ranked fourth in the country behind South Carolina, Oregon and Iowa St.).

“That has always been one of our biggest strengths,” UConn women’s coach Geno Auriemma said earlier this offseason. “Our crowds are great, our fans are loyal, they’re passionate whether it’s here or the XL Center. Teams in the conference or around the country, they knew if they came here … for the longest time, we were the standard. For us not to have (fans in attendance), maybe for some other teams they’re not quite sure what it is that they’re missing because maybe they’ve never had it to that extent, but for us it’s big, it’s really big.”

Families of student-athletes and coaches must adhere to public health guidance when attending games, including but not limited to mask-wearing, maintaining proper social distancing, and observing Connecticut’s travel advisory policy.

Information and options for basketball season ticket holders will be announced in the coming days.

Getty Images UConn announced on Monday that fans will not be allowed to attend games at Gampel Pavilion this season due the COVID-19 pandemic.