LEXINGTON — While in-person attendance will be limited to families of players, Lexington sports fans will be able to watch games from home through a lives tream platform this school year.

At its Wednesday meeting, the Lexington Local Schools board of education approved an agreement with WMFD to provide livestream coverage of the district’s home varsity games, including football, soccer, volleyball and basketball. Sports fans would need to purchase a virtual ticket, priced at $9.99, to watch the games live or on demand.

Per the proposed agreement, Lexington High School would receive $3.75 per ticket sold.

WMFD may also provide live streaming of other school events, such as concerts and graduation, which could be viewed for free.

All live streams will be available through the TV station’s app and viewable on devices including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and smart TVs. Viewers could also access the live stream on the station’s website or on a smartphone.

Governor Mike Dewine announced Tuesday that fall sports may go forward, but that spectators will be limited to family members and those “close to the athletes.” Family members of marching bands, drill teams, etc. can also attend. School districts will ultimately be responsible for setting and enforcing their own attendance policies in accordance with state guidelines.

On Wednesday, the Ohio Department of Health released its guidelines for spectators at sporting events. The order states that the maximum number of individuals gathered in any outdoor sports venue must be the lesser of 1,500 or 15 percent of fixed, seated capacity. 

The order also stipulates that seating must be arranged to allow for six feet of space between groups of a) no more than four spectators or b) members of one household.

For indoor facilities, the maximum number of individuals gathered in any indoor entertainment venue shall be lesser of 300 spectators or 15 percent of fixed seating capacity. 

In the case of the Lexington football stadium, that would mean 600 spectators total.