What will Kyle Field look like this fall?
Everything’s still up in the air, but social distancing rules could mean as few as 25,000 fans in 103,000-seat stadium
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M fan John Tomchesson and his family have held season tickets for 12 years at the home of the 12th Man, and in that time the Tomchessons have forged rapports with fans in their celebratory circle.
“I’ve become friends with Aggies I didn’t know before we sat by them,” Tomchesson said of his appreciation for Kyle Field camaraderie. “I’ve hugged and high-fived people I had never met before. I could not imagine a touchdown by Texas A&M, then looking around at your family and friends all spread out, and maybe just giving somebody a head nod.
“That would be weird.”
Weird has been the operative word for the past couple of months because of the pandemic, and A&M officials and their counterparts across the country now are trying to figure out whether social distancing — keeping at least 6 feet apart — will be in play in stadiums come September.
“We have not gone down the path of examining every section,” A&M athletic director Ross Bjork said of exactly how many fans Kyle Field will hold with mandated social distancing in place. “There are a lot of scenarios being discussed.”
Like that proverbial glass, Bjork prefers to envision a stadium as half full, not half empty, should restrictions be in place this season.
“We want a full experience, and we’re staying positive — that’s the approach we’re taking right now,” Bjork said. “We know we can pivot quickly if we have to, but we have not mapped that out.”
Kyle Field’s listed capacity is nearly 103,000, and last season almost 107,000 fans watched Alabama play at A&M in mid-October. That was a good day for Martin Zimmermann, who has sold individual cushioned seats with supporting backs at Kyle for 14 years, both for a season and individual games.
“I typically start my planning for the season right after spring break,” Zimmermann said. “My contacts at A&M have told me we should plan as usual unless we’re told otherwise. I can’t afford to wait until August to start planning for this. The first game is Sept. 5, and we’ve got to have several thousand seats in by then, if things are normal.
“You can spend all day worrying about these things, but until you get an answer for what’s going to happen, you can’t adjust your plans.”
Fans and those who rely on A&M football to help pay the bills also got a little good news Friday: The Southeastern Conference is allowing its athletes to resume training on their respective campuses starting June 8, after a midMarch ban.
“We are preparing to begin the fall sports season as currently scheduled, and this limited resumption of voluntary athletic activities on June 8 is an important initial step in that process,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has gradually reopened the state in the past month, but he has held off on potentially crowded events such as county fairs. With that in mind, what exactly would Kyle Field look like at, say, 25 percent capacity?
Roughly 25,000 fans would be spread throughout the stadium, and which fans would be allowed in would be determined in a potentially convoluted process.
“You’ve got 102,733 seats,” Bjork said. “Last year we sold about 85,000 season tickets, including right around 35,000 student tickets. That leaves you about 18,000 empty seats. The great thing about Kyle Field is we have a lot of space. So you would start with your infrastructure and analyze it from there, but we would not (ideally) want to decrease our season ticket base. …
“We have a huge footprint, and we just haven’t had to go down that (downsizing) path yet.”
Should social distancing be required at Kyle Field this fall, not only would fans be spaced at least 6 feet apart throughout the stadium, but multiple measures would be in place to try to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
That might mean everyone but the players and those on the sideline would be required to wear masks (further muffling touchdown celebrations and the Aggies’ tradition of kissing after a score); an abundance of hand sanitizers spread throughout the stadium; and scheduled times for different sections to enter the stadium so there is no squeeze at the gates, where body temperatures might also be checked.
Bjork added that it might be helpful for fans to bring their own beverage containers to limit the number of hands on a cup, making last year’s new policy of selling alcohol throughout the stadium a bit trickier. A&M and its concessions cohort made more than $1 million off alcohol sales at Kyle Field in 2019, according to the university.
“One of the things that we’ve had to do with the alcohol policy is have (employees) pour the bottle or can of beer into a cup (for fans); that’s an SEC policy,” Bjork said. “Does that need to change so you limit as many contacts as possible? Those approaches are being studied right now.”
So are the possibilities of limiting the university-sanctioned tailgating scene around Kyle Field, and the myriad activities in the Aggie Fan Zone on the plaza north of the stadium that create a festival-like atmosphere in the hours before kickoff.
“There’s nothing you can really put in writing right now or have a ‘backup’ plan yet, because there’s too much uncertainty, and it’s way too early,” Bjork said of the Aggies’ plans for Kyle Field starting with the Sept. 5 opener against Abilene Christian.
Tomchesson, the longtime season ticket holder, said he’s not sure he’d want to be part of a pruned setting at Kyle Field, based on the complexities of who would even be allowed to attend each game.
“I’m of the opinion that we all go or nobody goes, and I’m not even talking about the environment as much as what is fair,” Tomchesson said. “How do you determine who attends? I know we have seven home games, and you maybe could say, ‘This group gets to go to this game and this group gets to go to this game … but that’s just hard to imagine. And how do they control all those bodies once they get in the stadium?
“I don’t envy (A&M’s) challenge of figuring out who comes in and who doesn’t.”
Tomchesson and his family attended a Fort Bend MarshallBoerne Champion playoff game last December at Kyle Field, not realizing at the time it was a possible preview of this fall’s college football attendance-wise.
“We wandered down to about the 40-yard line and found a spot, and there was nobody in front of us, and nobody within 6 feet either way, and we just sat there and watched a ballgame,” Tomchesson said. “Now, Kyle Field might look like a high school playoff game for the Aggies.”