Alabama Football: First shoe drops for empty stadiums in 2020

Alabama football might be without fans in the stands in 2020.

The entire 2020 college football season remains in question, but plans are slowly being made. The most recent move was when Penn State announced that there would be no fans in the stands for fall sports. They are biggest school to do so as of right now, and there might be ripple effects.

The Big Ten was the first major conference to announce a change in their scheduling. It came as a shock to the rest of college football, but even the SEC has followed suit. The Crimson Tide will now only be playing 10 games against other SEC opponents. This decision by the Nittany Lions might cause other universities to make the same call over the next month.

Alabama football has already refunded season ticket packages to students with the promise to announce their new plan soon. That is one step in the wrong direction. It was reasonable with the new schedule, but it would be incredibly easy to say that students will not be allowed access to tickets.

If Alabama were to make this decision, it would likely be after other schools do the same. The SEC hasn’t necessarily been leading the charge in the fight for a safer season. They have let other conferences dictate the norm in hopes of the situation getting better soon.

Would no fans in the stands even hurt Alabama football?

From a financial perspective, empty stadiums would be devastating. Ticket sales, concession sales, and overall game day revenue is huge for the university and the city of Tuscaloosa. However, an empty stadium would not have a major impact on the game itself. Alabama is a disciplined team. They can get through the adversity of a silent stadium. It might hurt against Georgia, but it would actually help with road games on the schedule. If Alabama can’t get a night game scheduled to save their life, they might as well have a quiet stadium.

Alabama football is also at the forefront of innovation for the sport. They will get creative with crowd noise and music. It won’t be as great as having over 100,000 fans in the stands, but it will get the job done.

The Crimson Tide might end up with limited seating in college football stands, but Penn State’s decision makes that less likely. We will have to monitor the situation over the next few weeks, just like we have to monitor everything else in 2020.