Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
WVU’s Wells Planning For College Football This Fall
May 26, 2020 10:01 AM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The plan is to play college football this fall.
Late last week, the Big 12 Conference Board of Directors announced a return-to-campus protocol for voluntary activities related to sport participation.
The phased-in approach calls for football student-athletes to have access to campus athletic facilities on June 15, with volleyball, soccer and cross country athletes being permitted to return to campus on July 1.
All other athletes will be able to return to campus for sport-related activities on July 15.
"I do think we are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel," West Virginia coach Neal Brown said. "We've been working toward this. We've got a team that has been preparing for this, and we feel like we've got good procedures in place to make a go of it."Another important date Mountaineer fans need to keep in mind is June 1 – that's the deadline to purchase season football tickets for a 2020 slate that features seven home games at Milan Puskar Stadium, including three in a row in September against Eastern Kentucky (Sept. 12), Maryland (Sept. 19) and Kansas State (Sept. 26).
Matt Wells, senior associate athletics director for external affairs, was a guest on the Mountaineer Insider Podcast last Friday evening to provide some insight on the ticketing process as we approach the June 1 season ticket deadline.
This year's deadline was pushed back from the original May 1 date.
"The main question we have been getting is what will happen if football season is impacted in some shape, form or fashion?" Well said. "We will absolutely work with our Mountaineer Athletic Club members and football season ticket holders on the appropriate make-good measures if and when that time comes.
"But I do encourage fans to come on board and renew or buy their season tickets on or around that June 1 deadline and continue the process of getting ready for another exciting season of Mountaineer football," he said.
Wells pointed out that a lot has changed since the college basketball season was canceled on Thursday, March 12 when West Virginia was scheduled to play Oklahoma in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships in Kansas City.
More positive changes continue to take place as summer approaches.
"If you look back from the time the basketball tournaments were canceled, it's been about 70 days, and certainly a lot has changed since that time frame," he noted. "Now, we're roughly 100 days out from the start of football season so there are going to be a lot changes with everything pandemic-related over the course of the next 100 days.
"Mountaineer football and college football, in general, brings a ray of hope and a ray of light into people's eyes and gives us all something to look forward to," he continued, "and while we do anticipate some attrition because of the impact of the pandemic, we are also seeing pretty good response as it relates to comparing two weeks before the deadline now to two weeks before the deadline in past years."
Wells said previous data indicates about 70 percent of season tickets are purchased and renewed during the final two weeks leading up to the season ticket deadline date.
He also indicated contingency planning is underway to adjust and adapt should that be needed. A senior administrative committee consisting of April Messerly, Simon Dover, Steve Uryasz and Wells has been formed to monitor COVID-19-related issues, including potential delays or interruptions to the football season.
They will report directly to Deputy Director of Athletics Keli Zinn.
"We are putting together various subcommittees on what a return to campus looks like – a return to campus for our staff, a return to campus for our student-athletes and a return to our venues for spectators," he explained. "As we put those contingencies together, to be able to adjust and adapt as more concrete information is known, we will have to potentially say, 'What does this look like in terms of percentages (in the stadium)?'
"Certainly, we are going to take care of as many of our season ticket holders as we can. We hope to take care of all of them, but that would be the first group we address along with the WVU students and player family members to be able to accommodate them to the degree we can," he said.
Overall, Wells indicated season ticket sales are down slightly, but not significantly compared to yearly averages over the last 12 to 15 football seasons.
"Right now, things are positive. Our numbers are tracking at a pretty decent spot compared to past years and we hope to see that continue until June 1," he said.
Wells encourages fans to give the Mountaineer Ticket Office a call at 1-800-WVU GAME should they have any questions or concerns.
Fans can also email questions to WVUGAME@mail.wvu.edu.
"We will follow up and help people through all of the situations with their tickets and any questions they may have," he concluded.
Season tickets can be renewed by logging on to WVUGAME.com or by calling the Mountaineer Ticket Office.
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