Texas State announced Friday afternoon it will implement a number of health and safety measures for fans during game days at Bobcat Stadium for the upcoming football season.
“These guidelines will help us manage the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, game officials, fans, staff, and visiting teams,” Texas State Director of Athletics Larry Teis said. “Our goal is to provide the safest gameday environment. We have been working in conjunction with the NCAA, the Sun Belt Conference, university, federal, state, and local agencies to keep Bobcat Athletics facilities safe and within the State of Texas guidelines. It is more important now than ever that all of us follow these guidelines and recommendations so that we all can stay safe and continue playing this season. We look forward to seeing Bobcat fans cheering on our teams this fall.”
The measures are designed to help curb the impact of COVID-19 while allowing fans to attend games this fall. The stadium will be limited to a maximum capacity of 25% for the team’s season-opening game against SMU on Sept. 5, a total of 7,500 seats.
The school asks that spectators perform a self-check for symptoms of the virus before arriving to the stadium, which include fever, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chills, fatigue, muscle body aches, headaches, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, vomiting and diarrhea.
As previously announced, Texas State will no longer offer printed ticket booklets, switching to digital ticketing instead, delivered via email. General admission seating has also been eliminated. Students are encouraged to claim their digital ticket in advance by filling out the TXST Student Game Ticket Request form online. Request forms will be available at 10 a.m. on Monday of each game week and requests for each home game must be made separately. Students will only be allowed to request one ticket for themselves and be assigned a seat in either sections 115-123 or 211-223.
General game day parking will be available to students in the east lot of the stadium (previously Tailgate Central) for $10 a spot with a student ID. Spaces can be purchased in advance online or in person on game day and will be limited to one spot per vehicle. Free parking is available at the Mill Street parking lot, University Events Center Parking Lot and Clear Spring parking lot. Lot 5 will not be available for game day parking this season. All lots will open two hours before kickoff, though no tailgating will be permitted.
Fans will be required to wear a face covering while entering the stadium as well as when they are not in their seat, with exceptions listed in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. The stadium’s gates will open 90 minutes before kickoff, with social distancing markers placed at each entry point. Fans must enter at the designated entry point described on their digital ticket.
Bobcat Club members will receive special perks on game days. Members sitting in the Legacy Suites or Champions Club areas can enter the stadium two hours prior to the game. The Bobcat Club will also provide active donors with a printed booklet of parking passes. Bronze members will receive a season pass to Lot 4 in the Strahan lot, Silver members to Lot 3 on the west side of the stadium, Gold and Diamond members to Lot 2. Platinum and Champions members will receive a reserved parking spot in Lot 2. The reserved donor parking lots will open three hours before the game begins. Members can also trade their season passes for RV parking passes. RV parking is allowed at 4 p.m. the day before a game.
Texas State will offer concessions during game day. Physical distancing signage and floor decals will be displayed to help guests maintain six feet of distance from others. Sneeze Guards have been installed at the points of sale and frequent high touchpoints will be disinfected more frequently. There will be no cash sales, as only credit and debit cards and meal plan payment methods will be accepted. All vendors, suppliers, subcontractors, associates and volunteers will be required to wear face masks. Only bottle beverages will be available for purchase and food items are limited to high-demand, fan-favorite items. Guests can pre-order their food using the Grubhub app.
Restrooms at the stadium will be limited in capacity and may have designated entries and exits when applicable. A sanitizing technician will be responsible for maintaining cleanliness, especially with high touchpoint surfaces.
Hand sanitizer stations will be available throughout the stadium. Game day personnel will be subject to a pre-screening health questionnaire and temperature check upon entering the stadium. Texas State will follow CDC guidelines and deploy an amplified cleaning team to sanitize the stadium.
The Bobcats and Mustangs are scheduled to kick off the 2020 season on Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. Bobcat Stadium’s capacity limitations are subject to change throughout the season.
