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Texas Tech football: Jones Stadium capacity likely at 25% for 2020

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 23: The Texas Tech Red Raiders are led onto the field by the Masked Rider before the college football game against the Kansas State Wildcats on November 23, 2019 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 23: The Texas Tech Red Raiders are led onto the field by the Masked Rider before the college football game against the Kansas State Wildcats on November 23, 2019 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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It is being reported that the capacity for Texas Tech football home games this year will be capped at 25%, which hurts the Red Raiders in a number of ways.

Tuesday, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported that Texas Tech football games will be limited to 25% capacity in 2020.  This news, while not unexpected, is a reminder of just how awful the Red Raiders’ timing is when it comes to the occurrence of the greatest global pandemic in nearly a century.

"“I would caution to add that when we get into November and December, the situation may be significantly different, that that (plan) could change,” Tech President Lawrence Schovanec said. “But right now, as we plan for the start of the season, I think 25 percent is a reasonable possibility.”"

Therefore, the maximum crowd that we may see at Jones Stadium this fall would be 15,000 fans.  That’s yet another disappointing blow to what was supposed to be a special home slate of games for Texas Tech football fans.

Originally set for seven contests, the 2020 home schedule was going to be one of the best in the history of the program.  Not only is Tech going to host Texas, OU, West Virginia, and Kansas, the Baylor Bears are going to come to Lubbock for the first time since 2008.  Also, the Red Raiders were supposed to host Arizona in an intriguing non-conference game at The Jones.

But while those Big 12 games will still take place, the Arizona game is off as the PAC 12 is playing only conference games this fall.  And we continue to wait to hear about which team will come to Lubbock for the only non-conference game the Big 12 will allow the Red Raiders to play this fall.

However, there really isn’t going to be a home-field advantage with only 15,00 fans in the stands.  We have learned that the hard way in recent years as small crowds at Jones Stadium have made the once raucous venue feel like an empty cathedral and those crowds were still in the neighborhood of 30,000 fans or more.

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But the loss of competitive advantage is just one of the negatives that are befalling the Red Raiders this season at home. The other is a missed opportunity to recapture the hearts of the fans.

Apathy among the Tech populace is at its lowest point in decades and that was evident during last year’s dreadful home slate of games, which featured only one ranked team, No. 21 Oklahoma State.  That’s why this year was going to be so key.

With the Longhorns, Sooners, Mountaineers, Wildcats, and Bears all on their way to Lubbock, the Red Raiders were going to have plenty of opportunities to secure wins that would have registered as meaningful with the fans.  Now, even if Tech scores an upset of UT or OU, it won’t carry the same level of emotional satisfaction with the fans as it would have had we been able to witness the triumph in person and celebrate with our fellow Red Raiders.

Then there are the financial ramifications.  Already having to lose a huge non-con game against Zona and replacing that with a game against what is being rumored to be Houston Baptist would have hurt the bottom line even had there been no attendance restrictions.  But at 15,000 fans per game, the gate Tech will bring in is going to be next to nothing.

"Don Willaims of the Avalanche-Journal sums up the financial implications thusly in his article:“Tech senior associate athletics director Jonathan Botros, the department’s chief financial officer, said last month Tech athletics could run a balanced operating budget at $78 million if it could play all seven of its then-scheduled home games to 50% of capacity.“The $78 million was down from the $93.64 million Tech athletics originally budgeted for the 2019-2020 fiscal year, a number it failed to reach because of revenue cuts related to the sports shutdown in mid-March. And the projection for a balanced budget at $78 million came before the Red Raiders lost September home dates against Alabama State and Arizona, games that would be worth worth about $2 million to $2.3 million each to the department under normal circumstances.”"

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This is a disappointing development but one that was not unforeseen.  It just hurts that the world’s greatest health crisis since the Spanish Flu happened to fall on the same year that Tech was set to have a special set of games for the fans to enjoy at Jones Stadium.

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