Attending a football game during a pandemic

[AstroCat]

I was at Ryan Field last Friday, and I thought I would share my experience with others. Aside from the outcome of game, it was a very pleasant evening. The weather was overcast, but except for a few minor sprinkles in the second half, it was dry and comfortable. The temperature was about 72 for most of the game.

We parked in the street, a little west of Green Bay road, and walked to the stadium. Our seats are on the east side of the stadium.

They set up a fenced-off area around our corner of the stadium (the south east corner). You had to pass through a metal detector and have your ticket scanned in order to enter this area, but once in, you had direct access to the stadium gates and your seats without any further security or having to show your ticket again. I do not know if this arrangement applies to other parts of the stadium.

This effectively creates a large outdoor concourse where you can hang out before the game and during halftime. They had stations set up for purchasing food and beverages, with some high-top tables scattered about. Having this outdoor area available was very helpful. Mrs. Astro and I were masked up for the game, but during half time, we found a quiet place on the grass where we could de-mask and take a break from the crowds.

By the way, I do not know if they were serving beer in this area, I probably should have investigated further. Even if they did, I suspect it may only be pre-game.

Inside the stadium, it was not that much different than years past, except that all the food vendors are cashless (although their tip jars still accept real dollars). Officially, masks are optional in the outdoor parts of the stadium, but required in the restrooms. I saw many without masks, even in the restrooms. Also, I noticed fewer children in the stadium than in past years, but I was not sure if that was due to the pandemic or just because of the late kickoff time.

I understand that people have different opinions on masks and vaccination. Personally, I would have preferred that they require vaccination for all in attendance, as was done for Lollapalooza and Milwaukee’s Summerfest. Since Northwestern requires all students for the 2020-2021 school year to be vaccinated, it seems odd that they do not require it for fans at their football games. Currently, Illinois is averaging 4000 new cases a day, and this is the worst surge since last October.

We had masks on for the game, and the fans directly in front of us and behind us did too, and I was grateful for that. I am so accustomed to wearing a mask now, that keeping it on for a few hours is not a problem, although it does make it a lot harder to cheer.

Overall, we had an enjoyable evening (again, except for the outcome of the game), and it was great to see a football game in person again. The 8:00 PM kickoff did seem a bit strange. It was completely dark at kickoff, and when we walked back to the car, it was around 11:30 PM.

 

[zeek55]

Thank you for posting this for those of us far away from Evanston.

 

[CatManTrue]

Thank you for posting this for those of us far away from Evanston.

It was a good time. I wish it had started at 7pm but like any Cats fan I’ll take what I can get.

 

[KramerCat91]

The most dangerous part of going to the game exposure-wise is waiting in long lines to get into the stadium for those whose seats aren't near the N Zone. Hopefully NU will get that figured out by this Saturday.

 

[Alvious]

I'm guessing long lines aren't going to be a problem this week.

 

[ricko654321]

The most dangerous part of going to the game exposure-wise is waiting in long lines to get into the stadium for those whose seats aren't near the N Zone. Hopefully NU will get that figured out by this Saturday.

The entry lines were absolutely ridiculous. I honestly have no idea what they were doing. I waited for 25 minutes to get into the stadium, and that is after walking around roughly half the stadium to see if there was a shorter line anywhere else (there wasn't). By the time I got inside it was 7-0 and close to being 14-0. I guess possibly the metal detectors? But they've had those before I think and I'd never seen anything near that bad. Complete display of incompetence by NU athletics in how they organized it. It was frankly embarrassing that it was managed that poorly.

Parking lot management also lived up to its usual level of incompetence for the most part, except for one awesome guy - a black dude who was doing more to move the line along and get people parked than the other 8 people standing around and essentially passive observing combined. And he was having fun doing it! We tried to offer him a brat and a beer but he wouldn't take it - seemed like because he didn't want to take a pause from getting more cars parked! Awesome guy.

The other thing that bothered me was the management of the in-stadium sound system. They blasted noise while we were on defense to the point where no one could hear themselves cheering, so as a result it was impossible to start the organic cheers ("De-Fense" or "Let's Go Cats" or even just get a general growl going) that we usually do. Inevitably the sound blasted in has to stop before the play so when they did, because no one could hear themselves speak or cheer until that point, the stadium went quiet prior to and during the play. I understand what they were trying to accomplish (pipe in noise to make it seem like a stronger home field) but the result of it going awkwardly quiet before the snap ended up being counter-productive as it prevented me and others that might have wanted to cheer from trying to get the crowd into it on key 2nd, 3rd, or 4th downs when we had a chance to stop their offensive momentum. It would have worked much better if they let the band do their thing because then the fans can build up a cheer as that happens and it gets gradually louder up until and through the snap. Not that it would've made a difference in that one, but it's not fun to have the fans taken out of the game.

 

[Bwm57]

I thought it was fine.
As far as the delay entering much was caused by people having a problem accessing the digital tickets and then the scanning of the tickets.
Hopefully that will improve as everyone becomes more comfortable with the system.

 

[mpfeiler]

The lines getting in were terrible. This needs to be fixed quickly.

 

[jne381]

My wife and I entered about 30 minutes prior to kickoff. if took us about 5 minutes to get in.

 

[hdhntr1]

I was at Ryan Field last Friday, and I thought I would share my experience with others. Aside from the outcome of game, it was a very pleasant evening. The weather was overcast, but except for a few minor sprinkles in the second half, it was dry and comfortable. The temperature was about 72 for most of the game.

We parked in the street, a little west of Green Bay road, and walked to the stadium. Our seats are on the east side of the stadium.

They set up a fenced-off area around our corner of the stadium (the south east corner). You had to pass through a metal detector and have your ticket scanned in order to enter this area, but once in, you had direct access to the stadium gates and your seats without any further security or having to show your ticket again. I do not know if this arrangement applies to other parts of the stadium.

This effectively creates a large outdoor concourse where you can hang out before the game and during halftime. They had stations set up for purchasing food and beverages, with some high-top tables scattered about. Having this outdoor area available was very helpful. Mrs. Astro and I were masked up for the game, but during half time, we found a quiet place on the grass where we could de-mask and take a break from the crowds.

By the way, I do not know if they were serving beer in this area, I probably should have investigated further. Even if they did, I suspect it may only be pre-game.

Inside the stadium, it was not that much different than years past, except that all the food vendors are cashless (although their tip jars still accept real dollars). Officially, masks are optional in the outdoor parts of the stadium, but required in the restrooms. I saw many without masks, even in the restrooms. Also, I noticed fewer children in the stadium than in past years, but I was not sure if that was due to the pandemic or just because of the late kickoff time.

I understand that people have different opinions on masks and vaccination. Personally, I would have preferred that they require vaccination for all in attendance, as was done for Lollapalooza and Milwaukee’s Summerfest. Since Northwestern requires all students for the 2020-2021 school year to be vaccinated, it seems odd that they do not require it for fans at their football games. Currently, Illinois is averaging 4000 new cases a day, and this is the worst surge since last October.

We had masks on for the game, and the fans directly in front of us and behind us did too, and I was grateful for that. I am so accustomed to wearing a mask now, that keeping it on for a few hours is not a problem, although it does make it a lot harder to cheer.

Overall, we had an enjoyable evening (again, except for the outcome of the game), and it was great to see a football game in person again. The 8:00 PM kickoff did seem a bit strange. It was completely dark at kickoff, and when we walked back to the car, it was around 11:30 PM.

The area you are talking is I believe the N Zone. I am now in East lot and I needed to get a t shirt and wanted to go in but did not have tickets with me so had to go around the stadium to find a vendor.

Don't like the limitation to cashless payments. I mean the notes say "This note is Legal Tender for all Debts Public and Private" Seems clear enough but with all the lawyers we have someone likely found a way around it.

 

[hdhntr1]

The lines getting in were terrible. This needs to be fixed quickly.

Think Center. Away from the cornes. on the East side, the corners always seem to have long lines but in the center gates. ... Course you have to walk to the ramps

 

[Amcat]

Mrs. Amcat and I also attended the game last Friday. We got to the game about an hour before kickoff. I had to pick up our tickets at will call, and that was an easy two minute experience. As I had posted, I hoped to meet some fellow Board members at the famous Uber tailgate. A big shout out to FloridAlum for getting directions to the Uber tailgate.

Mrs. Amcat wanted to get into the stadium, so she did not join me on my journey to Uber. The highlight of the evening was getting to meet Uber, CoralSpringsCat, GOUNUII and CatManTrue at the tailgate. It was great to put faces with names of other true Cat fans. GOUNUII had a great story about how Fitz wound up with the Cats.

Got back to the stadium about thirty minutes before game time. Our seats were on the East side, and I had no trouble getting in the stadium. No line at all. (No problems for Mrs. Amcat either).

Here are some other observations about the game day experience.

1. Most people I saw wore masks in the area under the stands, but most were not masked while in their seats.
2. Nice to see NUMB at the game. The band looked a little larger than in past years.
3. I was surprised at the number of students in attendance. A nice crowd considering classes don’t start until September 21.
4. ricko654321 mentioned the in-stadium sound system, and I echo his observations. If you wanted to talk to the person next to you, shouting was the only way to make yourself heard. Good luck trying to say something to anyone not next to you. Overall I thought it was very annoying and detracted from the game.
5. They need to retire “And We’re Gonna Move Those Chains” call post haste. Enough is enough.
6. Didn’t have to try the concessions, but it looked like they had a few new food offerings.
7. Lots of long breaks for television commercials.

Hope the Cats play better this week. Go Cats!

 

[ricko654321]

Mrs. Amcat and I also attended the game last Friday. We got to the game about an hour before kickoff. I had to pick up our tickets at will call, and that was an easy two minute experience. As I had posted, I hoped to meet some fellow Board members at the famous Uber tailgate. A big shout out to FloridAlum for getting directions to the Uber tailgate.

Mrs. Amcat wanted to get into the stadium, so she did not join me on my journey to Uber. The highlight of the evening was getting to meet Uber, CoralSpringsCat, GOUNUII and CatManTrue at the tailgate. It was great to put faces with names of other true Cat fans. GOUNUII had a great story about how Fitz wound up with the Cats.

Got back to the stadium about thirty minutes before game time. Our seats were on the East side, and I had no trouble getting in the stadium. No line at all. (No problems for Mrs. Amcat either).

Here are some other observations about the game day experience.

1. Most people I saw wore masks in the area under the stands, but most were not masked while in their seats.
2. Nice to see NUMB at the game. The band looked a little larger than in past years.
3. I was surprised at the number of students in attendance. A nice crowd considering classes don’t start until September 21.
4. ricko654321 mentioned the in-stadium sound system, and I echo his observations. If you wanted to talk to the person next to you, shouting was the only way to make yourself heard. Good luck trying to say something to anyone not next to you. Overall I thought it was very annoying and detracted from the game.
5. They need to retire “And We’re Gonna Move Those Chains” call post haste. Enough is enough.
6. Didn’t have to try the concessions, but it looked like they had a few new food offerings.
7. Lots of long breaks for television commercials.

Hope the Cats play better this week. Go Cats!

indeed, the TV commercials were painful. i've come to expect that when we are on the main FOX or ESPN networks in a key slot (believe it or not FOX is actually worse than ESPN), but it doesn't make it any less brutal for the in-stadium viewer. especially when we are playing like crap. but that one certainly has nothing to do with NU.

 

[its_the_sauce]

Disappointed in the now lack of options at the grill under west stands. Used to like the foot long polish.

 

[KramerCat91]

I thought it was fine.
As far as the delay entering much was caused by people having a problem accessing the digital tickets and then the scanning of the tickets.
Hopefully that will improve as everyone becomes more comfortable with the system.

NU needs to get staff out to the lines to help people get their tickets ready, not just wait for people to get to the head of the line. Poor planning for something so foreseeable.

 

[StreamCat]

The only thing that bugged me was a couple of guys in front of us pulled the the old chat-cut. “Oh, hi! Long time no see. How you been? Blah blah blah blah!“ And presto chango, they were in line.

 

[AstroCat]

Mrs. AstroCat and I arrived about 30 minutes before kickoff, and we waited in line for a few minutes. There were not that many people in line at that time, although it did appear that the line moved more slowly than in the past. The food vendors inside the stadium also seemed slower than before (if that is possible). I suspect many working there are doing it for the first time.

I forgot to mention that the game ball was delivered by a person coming in via parachute. They have done it many times in the past, and it never gets old.

 

[WestCoastWildcat]

I attended a Counting Crows concert at an outdoor venue at San Diego State last night. It was the first event I attended where proof of vaccination was required. It was a good sized crowd of around 3-4k but lots of empty seats. My friend and I wore masks upon entry and leaving and we were able to social distance during the concert since there were spots we could safely sit and social distance without masks. Some in the audience wore masks but most did not and most did not social distance. It will be interesting to know from research if requiring proof of vaccination for large scale events is an effective deterrent from spreading Covid esp with the higher transmissibility of the Delta variant. Will proof of vaccination become more standard for large events? This event being held at SDSU was a factor in requiring attendees to be vaccinated- the campus has raised the bar for the non-vaccinated attending mass public events. No such requirements are being made for local sporting events like attending Padres games where there are no masking or social distancing requirements either. I’m sure the proof of vaccination requirement to attend this event dampened attendance. There were short lines getting in- the entry checkpoints moved people thru smoothly. I don’t believe SDSU will be requiring proof of vaccination to attend Aztec football games this year. The games are being played up in Orange County this year while the new Aztec stadium is being built on the site of the old Qualcomm Stadium.

 

[hdhntr1]

Mrs. Amcat and I also attended the game last Friday. We got to the game about an hour before kickoff. I had to pick up our tickets at will call, and that was an easy two minute experience. As I had posted, I hoped to meet some fellow Board members at the famous Uber tailgate. A big shout out to FloridAlum for getting directions to the Uber tailgate.

Mrs. Amcat wanted to get into the stadium, so she did not join me on my journey to Uber. The highlight of the evening was getting to meet Uber, CoralSpringsCat, GOUNUII and CatManTrue at the tailgate. It was great to put faces with names of other true Cat fans. GOUNUII had a great story about how Fitz wound up with the Cats.

Got back to the stadium about thirty minutes before game time. Our seats were on the East side, and I had no trouble getting in the stadium. No line at all. (No problems for Mrs. Amcat either).

Here are some other observations about the game day experience.

1. Most people I saw wore masks in the area under the stands, but most were not masked while in their seats.
2. Nice to see NUMB at the game. The band looked a little larger than in past years.
3. I was surprised at the number of students in attendance. A nice crowd considering classes don’t start until September 21.
4. ricko654321 mentioned the in-stadium sound system, and I echo his observations. If you wanted to talk to the person next to you, shouting was the only way to make yourself heard. Good luck trying to say something to anyone not next to you. Overall I thought it was very annoying and detracted from the game.
5. They need to retire “And We’re Gonna Move Those Chains” call post haste. Enough is enough.
6. Didn’t have to try the concessions, but it looked like they had a few new food offerings.
7. Lots of long breaks for television commercials.

Hope the Cats play better this week. Go Cats!

I think all the commercial breaks were because it was on ESPN. It was ridiculous and made the game take 4 hrs

 

[hdhntr1]

indeed, the TV commercials were painful. i've come to expect that when we are on the main FOX or ESPN networks in a key slot (believe it or not FOX is actually worse than ESPN), but it doesn't make it any less brutal for the in-stadium viewer. especially when we are playing like crap. but that one certainly has nothing to do with NU.

The playing like crap part they sure do

 

[hdhntr1]

The lines getting in were terrible. This needs to be fixed quickly.

Not unless you waited till right at the beginning of the game

 

[Bwm57]

NU needs to get staff out to the lines to help people get their tickets ready, not just wait for people to get to the head of the line. Poor planning for something so foreseeable.

Ok, sure that would help.
What would also help is if people would figure out how to have their tickets ready before they are standing in line.
I’m sure it will improve over time.

 

[ricko654321]

I attended a Counting Crows concert at an outdoor venue at San Diego State last night. It was the first event I attended where proof of vaccination was required. It was a good sized crowd of around 3-4k but lots of empty seats. My friend and I wore masks upon entry and leaving and we were able to social distance during the concert since there were spots we could safely sit and social distance without masks. Some in the audience wore masks but most did not and most did not social distance. It will be interesting to know from research if requiring proof of vaccination for large scale events is an effective deterrent from spreading Covid esp with the higher transmissibility of the Delta variant. Will proof of vaccination become more standard for large events? This event being held at SDSU was a factor in requiring attendees to be vaccinated- the campus has raised the bar for the non-vaccinated attending mass public events. No such requirements are being made for local sporting events like attending Padres games where there are no masking or social distancing requirements either. I’m sure the proof of vaccination requirement to attend this event dampened attendance. There were short lines getting in- the entry checkpoints moved people thru smoothly. I don’t believe SDSU will be requiring proof of vaccination to attend Aztec football games this year. The games are being played up in Orange County this year while the new Aztec stadium is being built on the site of the old Qualcomm Stadium.

They've done a fair amount of research on it and I don't think they've found a single outdoor event yet that has been identified as a meaningful spreading event. Possible I missed something. Also likely true that the research on sources of spreading is challenging and thus incomplete or imprecise. And third possible I suppose is I think the delta variant is mostly untested in this regard. But thus far it seems that based on the evidence available Covid doesn't really spread much outdoors, in the open air it dissipates quickly. In order to do so you basically need to sneeze or spit directly onto someone. Which well, people are idiots, so that definitely does happen...

 

[ricko654321]

Not unless you waited till right at the beginning of the game

I've been to literally hundreds of sporting events across many different sports, professional college etc, and I've never experienced an entry line that bad. I had to wait 25 minutes to get in (I was watching the time), and that was after shopping around to different lines (they were all bad). The lines seemed to start to accumulate 20-30 mins before the game and were bad through and after kickoff. It was a debacle, and embarrassing for NU.

 

[TheC]

I've been to literally hundreds of sporting events across many different sports, professional college etc, and I've never experienced an entry line that bad. I had to wait 25 minutes to get in (I was watching the time), and that was after shopping around to different lines (they were all bad). The lines seemed to start to accumulate 20-30 mins before the game and were bad through and after kickoff. It was a debacle, and embarrassing for NU.

At least that part of the embarrassment wasn't televised.

 

[CatManTrue]

At least that part of the embarrassment wasn't televised.

This reminds me.

If our defense keeps playing like it did in week 1, bring at least two masks. That way you can cover your mouth, nose, and eyes at the same time when they’re on the field.

This technique came in very handy against MSU.

 

[KramerCat91]

Ok, sure that would help.
What would also help is if people would figure out how to have their tickets ready before they are standing in line.
I’m sure it will improve over time.

I found the software (Gpay) foisted on us to be non-intuitive and unpredictable.

 

[Bwm57]

I found the software (Gpay) foisted on us to be non-intuitive and unpredictable.

No doubt it’s difficult.
Combined with spotty cell service at the stadium is why it’s important to download your tickets to your Apple wallet or Google app prior to getting to the stadium so you have them even if you are offline.

 

[ricko654321]

No doubt it’s difficult.
Combined with spotty cell service at the stadium is why it’s important to download your tickets to your Apple wallet or Google app prior to getting to the stadium so you have them even if you are offline.

FYI if you call ticket office and specifically ask, you can go and pick up printed tickets. That's what my father did because he didn't want to deal with the app(s).