Stanford is throwing its attendance policy back to 2021.
The university announced Tuesday that it will pause fan attendance at all indoor winter sporting events indefinitely, thanks to a spike in coronavirus cases in the Bay Area and beyond fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant.
Only family members of student-athletes will be allowed to attend games for the time being. The school did not give an end date to the pause.
Stanford appears to be the first Power Five school to return to a no-fan policy during this academic year. Harvard and Yale have announced similar policies over the last week, but each of those policies included expected end dates.
“[A]fter thorough consultation with medical advisors and University leadership, it became very clear that implementing these measures is the right thing to do to protect our community at this time,” athletics director Bernard Muir said in a statement.
Stanford’s second-ranked women’s basketball team will host Oregon on Friday night and Oregon State on Sunday. The Cardinal played at Washington State on Sunday, winning without several key contributors who missed the game because of the virus, either from testing positive or contact tracing.
The Cardinal men’s basketball team is in the midst of a pause due to COVID cases within the program. Games scheduled for last Sunday and this Thursday against Cal and No. 5 UCLA, respectively, have been postponed. Stanford’s next scheduled game is Saturday at home against seventh-ranked USC.
Fans will be refunded for any tickets to games impacted by the policy, athletics department spokesperson Zach Reynolds said Tuesday.
Prior to Tuesday, Stanford had required fans to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter indoor sporting events, as well as wear masks when not actively eating or drinking.
Stanford is going to be playing in nearly-empty gyms for the indefinite future, but other teams around the Bay Area aren’t even going be on the court until at least this weekend because of COVID-19-related postponements.
Santa Clara’s Thursday men’s game with Saint Mary’s was postponed Tuesday due to COVID cases within the Gaels’ program. Neither team has played since SMC beat Yale Dec. 28.
No other Bay Area school has indicated it plans to follow in Stanford’s footsteps. A San Jose State spokesperson said the Spartans would continue welcoming fans for the time being, and calls to Santa Clara, Saint Mary’s and Cal have not yet been returned.
— The USF men’s basketball team reached a creative solution for losing this week’s game at Gonzaga, scheduling to play Loyola Chicago on Thursday in Salt Lake City.
The Dons (13-1) haven’t played since a 111-78 win over Academy of Art on Dec. 28. Thursday’s West Coast Conference game against No. 4 Gonzaga was postponed Monday because of COVID-19 protocols within the Bulldogs program.
USF’s game against Loyola Chicago will tip off at 11 a.m. Pacific at Salt Lake Community College. The Dons are scheduled to play host to San Diego on Saturday.
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