Plan on attending a Georgia football game this fall? Here’s what you need to know
Josh Brooks stood atop the bleachers in Section 314 of Sanford Stadium and became a master in geometry for a moment.
He demonstrated every intricacy that went into implementing a plan for fans to enter the stadium during the COVID-19 pandemic. Georgia’s senior deputy athletic director showed how the rise of the stands, size of the average person and other factors allowed him to measure a six-foot distance between each group. He had to use the Pythagorean Theorem of a triangle, and Brooks almost had to call his high-school math teacher for a helping hand.
Nonetheless, Brooks has been the orchestrator of trying to make Georgia football come to life this fall. In many ways, it’ll be strange. But fans can attend at a limited capacity, and a game day experience can still be had.
Brooks has been working on this project since the pandemic began in the spring. He had a vision for distancing and customer experience, and put it into action with a project. He operated with a large sketch of Sanford Stadium to outline how attendance may work. With a 20% capacity and padded seat backs, the Bulldogs are making it happen.
There might not be 93,000 packed inside, but there’s one perk: A fan can spread out and have space for their belongings without issue.
“We really want to have the Chick-fil-A and Disney World mentality,” said Brooks, who hopes the staff members greet everyone with a smile. “There’s no excuse with a slower pace to not focus on customer experience.”
Ahead of Saturday’s home opener against Auburn (7:30 p.m. on ESPN), Brooks took a few media members around the stadium for a tour and chat about what the new experience might resemble.
Notes:
A ticket and parking pass is required to enter lots in order to limit crowding.
All concession stands and restrooms will be open in order to limit lines and waiting times.
The concessions will mostly be operated in a grab-and-go style.
The visiting team has a block of 500 tickets.
Donors are sat in groups of four, faculty in groups of two. Those who opted out will maintain their ticket status for 2021.
Student seating is approximately 3,200 out of the normal 16,000 on Saturdays. Georgia could add more student seating as season continues.
Can the number of fans allowed be quantified?
Brooks: “It’s roughly 20%, whatever that comes out to be after you factor in the suites, donors and student blocks.”
Are there concerns with enforcing distancing with thousands of people?
Brooks: ”You always have concerns. But at this (attendance) number, we’ll have roughly the same amount of staff. We won’t pull back much. When you think about that 20% compared to what we’re normally managing, this will be much easier. It’s well laid out to where fans can and can’t sit. I’ve been watching other games and studying who has been successful and who hasn’t. The successful ones have done a good job of laying out the seats and using good designation. Those with issues had a general admission setup, and people might not know what a six-foot distance is. We have to be on that right as the gates open.”
How will the Sanford Stadium sidelines look different in terms of traditions and people allowed?
Brooks: “The SEC has worked to focus on and eliminate the additional people on the field who are not needed. You think of it as a bubble and it’s essential personnel only. Ancillary events, such as donors or recognitions, have gone away. That includes cheerleaders and mascots. It’ll only be those who have an essential role on the team. It’ll be more sparse than normal, and the coaches boxes are extended to the 15-yard-line.”
How will the UGA student sections work in order to keep them distanced?
Brooks:” Early on, it was very important to get with student leadership and develop a plan. They know the students on this campus better than we do. We wanted to make sure to get them the same percentage (of seats) as we did for donors and everybody else. We added a couple sections — part of 314 and all of 307 — that weren’t student sections before.
“We’re going to use vinyl wraps instead of chair backs to delineate where they can sit or stand. They’ll be in blocks of two, three, four, five and six to designate where they can be. It’s a general admission setup, and they’ll be wristbanded to a section. Then they find a group they’re comfortable with. There’ll be reminders during each quarter to avoid larger congregations.”
What does the cleaning process look like?
Brooks: “We’ve ramped it up with electromagnetic sprayers. We’ll hit that the morning of the game and hit all of the restrooms. We’ll be focusing on touch points throughout the game — handrails, counters and more. We have an attendant assigned to each restroom, but they should really be able to disinfect with limited capacity.”
What will protocol look like with temperature screenings, masks and sanitization?
Brooks: “We will not be doing temperature screenings. We have added sanitization stations everywhere, so you won’t be able to walk 30 feet without seeing one. Mask wearing is required when entering and when moving around — restrooms, concessions, etc. Once you get to your seat with distanced groups, you can remove your mask. We’ll have frequent signs and reminders, because we know there’ll be honest mistakes.”
How will there be a sense of normalcy?
Brooks: “A lot of the production will remain the same. There’ll be the video board. The band will be smaller, but we’ve focused on ways to amplify them and make it sound great. A lot of the pageantry around that will be in effect. The (red LED) lights will still be there. It’ll be a challenge that we’re embracing. Some artificial crowd noise is allowed by the conference as a constant flow. There’ll be a little bit of variable and turn it up on key downs.”
This story was originally published October 2, 2020 at 8:50 AM with the headline "Plan on attending a Georgia football game this fall? Here’s what you need to know."