Parents, fans not happy about near-empty college football stadiums in NC today.
College football came back to the state of North Carolina on Saturday. Due to current state rules, few fans were allowed to watch those games in person.
Hours before kickoff, Appalachian State announced that parents of juniors and seniors could attend the home game against Charlotte.
North Carolina allowed 25 fans into Saturday’s home game with Syracuse.
But for some N.C. fans, that wasn’t good enough.
Many parents and players openly lobbied N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper to try to get him to reconsider the current rules that allow no more than 50 people to gather outside. Appalachian State receiver Thomas Hennigan wrote an impassioned letter on social media more than a week ago that’s been retweeted more than 500 times and has more than 1,300 likes.
Hennigan, like the parents, argued that in stadiums that hold 30,000 or more, small groups could properly socially distance.
They also point to other states that are allowing fans. LSU plans to allow up to 25,000 fans at games. Duke was scheduled to play at Notre Dame Saturday, and more than 15,000 fans may attend.
This week, representatives from Appalachian State, Charlotte, East Carolina, N.C. State, UNC and Wake Forest all signed a letter addressed to Cooper asking that the state policy be re-evaluated.
East Carolina reportedly requested to allow 350 family members to attend Saturday’s season-opener against Central Florida. ECU’s stadium holds 51,000.
Dr. Mandy Cohen of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, along with Cooper’s office, denied the request in a conference call with the six schools this week.
Parents, high school coaches and fans took to Twitter to express frustration.
That frustration continued as the games began. ESPN’s College Football Gameday was at Wake Forest with no fans. Instead there were cardboard cutouts of fans behind an end zone.
This story was originally published September 12, 2020 at 12:55 PM.
