IU fans, Bloomington businesses ready for Big Ten football to begin
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — Game day in Bloomington usually means early alarms, long lines, and thousands of Big Ten football fans coming together to tailgate outside of Memorial Stadium.
With Wednesday’s Big Ten making an announcement that its 14 teams will have an eight-game football season, fans will have matchups to watch, but not in person because of the coronavirus pandemic.
A representative of Indiana University’s athletic department says no fans will be at the IU games and the university tailgate won’t happen.
Freshman Sydney Sine said, “It is a shame that we won’t get to be experiencing that, but it is definitive going to be different this year so that is going to be one of those things that comes with it.”
College sports fans say they will take what they can get at this point. “But it would be so nice to have that kind of atmosphere back on campus because it is just so dead. It would just be kind of nice to have like a game day vibe,” said sophomore Lillian Davisson.
Not everyone is confident that IU fans will resist the urge to celebrate a step toward normalcy.
“I definitely think it will be difficult to regulate especially when you have a bunch of kids that are really passionate about Big Ten sports. Everyone is really excited about it, it is definitive going to be hard to keep them apart,” said freshman Allisson Bass.
“I am not super confident about keeping spreading under control at the tailgates,” said junior Zaine Losk.
Monroe County Health Department nor the university were certain Wednesday how they will handle off-campus tailgate parties that may happen around the city before games.
Businesses get set to welcome fans
BuffaLouie’s in Bloomington and other businesses that cater to the game-day experience are already thinking of how they can safely fit the crowds they anticipate will come in their doors on game day.
BuffaLouis’s owner Ed Schwartzman said, “My staff and I we are already talking about how are we going to manage this because we anticipate, certainly us and Nick’s (English Hut bar) and Zagreb’s (Janko’s Little Zagreb restaurant), there are certain places in town that if people are coming in for a game, we are in that conversation.”
While Schwartzman is looking forward to the increase in business, he says the feeling of game day will be more rewarding than the money.
Statement
“While we haven’t seen full plans, it looks like the safety precautions for monitoring, testing, and plans for limited spectators is aimed at playing safely.”
Monroe County Health Department