Kansas basketball: Allen Fieldhouse will run this season at limited capacity

Allen Fieldhouse sees thousands of die-hard Kansas basketball fans each year, and Athletic Director Jeff Long is committed to keeping this tradition alive.

It appears Kansas basketball fans will get the opportunity to attend home games at Allen Fieldhouse this season. After what seemed to be an uneasy decision, the University of Kansas has come forward now with a plan to welcome back fans to the Phog.

Athletic Director Jeff Long has verified that there will be options for alumni, students, and season ticket holders to attend games this winter. It appears that members of the Williams Education Fund have been secured for 850 tickets, which is a large portion of the 1500 maximum attendance policy. The remaining 650 tickets will be available to just about anyone, however season ticket holders will be able to use their payments as credit for tickets, parking, etc.

As for the transition to an indoor venue, I’m not sure what changes to expect behind closed doors. I’d imagine concessions would continue and I would also expect some involvement of the KU spirit squad and band. Hopefully, these can be safely added to help sustain some of the college basketball experience.

Long stated that policies are made to “allow us to maximize the number of fans that can attend each game.” It’s obvious that Kansas Athletics aiming to get as many fans as safely involved as they can, as it is a substantial revenue stream for the University. More importantly, however, there seem to be enough precautions in place to allow for smaller amounts of fans to safely make it to the games.

I’m glad the home-court advantage can retain some kind of its former attendance, but it obviously will not be the same. The Jayhawks should be prepared for this kind of change. For a while, it seemed that Allen Fieldhouse was likely going to be empty this season.

Both the University of Kansas and the Douglas County area have seen an overall improvement in their containment efforts while battling the coronavirus. With consistent safety standards and a further improvement in containing the spread, Allen Fieldhouse should expect around 1500 fans per game this year. Getting your hands on tickets may be a little difficult this time around, but I think a lot of us are just glad that Kansas basketball is right around the corner.