AUSTIN (KXAN) — The college football world is in limbo as conferences reckon with the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving an uncertain future for the University of Texas with the fall season fast approaching.
The Mid-American and Mountain West Conferences have both canceled the fall football season. The Big 10 is at least considering becoming the first “Power 5” conference to delay its fall football season, according to reporting from the Detroit Free Press, while the Pac-12 Conference will reportedly vote on Tuesday to decide its next steps.
Little is known about the plan for the Big 12 Conference of which the University of Texas is a member. UT leaders said last month that they are considering whether to allow 25% capacity at Darrell K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium.
“There’s a lot to learn from right now,” Longhorns head football coach Tom Herman said Friday. “Our guys are very well educated about the missteps of other programs and mistakes that they’ve made and we’re definitely committed to not repeating those here at Texas.”
A UT spokesperson would not comment on the university’s discussions with the Big 12 but said members of the football team are being tested weekly for COVID-19 and, so far, all results have been negative.
Zach Anderson, president of third-party ticket seller Ticket City, said the success of a fall football season depends on flexibility.
He said many school administrators he works with are uncertain about what the future will hold, though he’s confident in the abilities of UT Athletic Director Chris Del Conte.
“I think college football is going to, unfortunately, have an exceptionally hard time playing this fall,” Anderson said.
Anderson is closely watching adjustments made by Major League Baseball, which has been forced to cancel games because of positive COVID-19 cases among players and team staff.
“I’ve heard administrators say this: If a professional sports organization with all the resources they have available to them struggles in a sport like Major League Baseball, that is already at least on the field somewhat socially distanced, to pull it off then what chance does college football have?” Anderson said.
Smaller communities more dependent on revenue from college football, like Waco, College Station, and Lubbock will likely be harder hit by the potential loss of games than Austin, Anderson said.
A 2015 AngelouEconomics study found that each UT home football game generates around $63 million for the Austin economy.
While a loss in revenue is certain whether or not UT takes the football field this fall, Matt Patton, an economist with AngelouEconomics, is confident the city can quickly bounce back.
“This is still an ‘it’ city,” Patton said. “People still want to be here. In terms of recovery and rebound, Austin is going to be one of those cities that’s able to do it a little bit better.”
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