AMES, Iowa – In an open letter to Iowa State Cyclone fans, Athletics Director Jamie Pollard outlined some of the impacts the COVID-19 pandemic will have on upcoming sports – including the news that basketball and wrestling likely won’t start until January of 2021.

The letter, which was posted Friday morning, includes changes for procedures at Cyclone football games in the fall. Options for zero fans, 25% and 50% of capacity at Jack Trice Stadium are being considered.

Face coverings will be required for all fans, only water and pop will be sold at concession stands, and fans can bring in snacks if they abide by the clear-bag policy.

No tailgating will be allowed at Jack Trice Stadium or in any university-owned parking lots.

Pollard’s letter also said that the university is working with the Big 12 Conference to determine whether Volleyball, soccer, and cross country teams will compete in the fall – following the Thursday announcement from the NCAA that fall championships in those sports has been canceled.

Read Pollard’s full letter below:

Aug. 14, 2020

Dear Cyclone fans,

Thank you for all of the emails, letters and calls the past several days. We appreciate your continued engagement with Cyclone Athletics. I’m writing to share several updates following the Big 12 President’s decision regarding fall sports.

The NCAA announced yesterday it has cancelled fall championships in the sports of volleyball, soccer and cross country. The decision was based on NCAA legislation that does not permit championships to be conducted in sports that have less than 50% of the institutions (who sponsor the sport) competing. We are working closely with the Big 12 Conference and our head coaches to determine whether those three sports will compete this fall.

Neither the NCAA nor the Big 12 have made any decision on winter sports (basketball, wrestling, swimming & diving, gymnastics and track & field). Those discussions will begin in the coming weeks. At this time, we believe those seasons would likely not start until Jan. 1, 2021.

We continue to work with campus officials to finalize our comprehensive COVID-19 mitigation measures for hosting football games. We have made several changes to what was previously shared regarding mitigation efforts for Jack Trice Stadium:

Face Coverings – Face coverings will be required at ALL times for ALL individuals at the games. This includes suites, club sections, general seating and the press tower.

Parking & Tailgating – Access to all parking lots will be available two hours before and after kickoff. There will be no tailgating allowed and RVs and buses will not be allowed to park in any university-owned parking lots. Donors who purchased a RV parking pass will automatically have their pass converted to a donor car parking lot. These measures are similar to our Big 12 peers.

– There will be no tent parties on stadium grounds, including tent row north of the stadium.

Limited Concessions – Concession operations will be limited to water and soda only (no food service). However, fans will be allowed to bring their own snacks (provided the items adhere to our current clear bag policy) into the stadium. Coolers will not be allowed inside the stadium.

Club Sections – There will be no food or alcohol service in the Jack Trice Club or the Sukup End Zone Club. Water and soda service will be available in those clubs.

In addition to these mitigation strategies, we continue to discuss capacity limits and are considering three options.

1. No Fans

Attendance would be limited to student-athletes’ families and friends.

2. Split Season

Allowing ticket holders to sit in their current seating location but limiting stadium capacity to 25%. This would require assigning each season ticket holder three of the six scheduled home games. We have already sold season tickets for 50% capacity, so by limiting capacity to 25% means each season ticket would include three games.

3. Full Season

Keep stadium capacity at 50% (the fans who have already purchased season tickets) but reseat the entire stadium, using each ticket holder’s Cyclone Club level and priority points, to create as much social distance between ticket holders as possible.Ticket holders would most likely not get their normal seat location but they would be able to attend all six games.

It is our goal to provide the student-athletes and coaches the opportunity to play football games in a safe environment with the largest crowd possible. The safety of all participants, fans and workers remains our top priority. That is the reason such thorough and comprehensive virus mitigation and capacity plans are being vetted.

As previously shared, attempts to implement mitigation strategies to a standard of absolute protection is simply not reasonable. It will ultimately be up to each attendee to decide if they are comfortable attending games given the mitigation strategies we implement.

As a reminder, any season ticket holder has the option to 1) convert their season ticket purchase into a fully tax-deductible Cyclone Club donation; 2) defer their 2020 ticket purchase to 2021 and retain their seating location; or 3) request a refund of their season ticket purchase.

If you are considering opting out of the 2020 season, please contact the Cyclone Club or Athletics Ticket Office by Aug. 28 to help us with our planning.

Thanks for your understanding as we continue to work through these challenging issues. We anticipate sharing our final mitigation and capacity plans no later than Sept. 1.

Go Cyclones!

Sincerely,

JAMIE POLLARD