Crowd Size Increase Starting October 9th For High School Sports In Michigan

The fall high school sports season has been an ever changing scene, and the latest change has fans excited.

The pandemic has caused a rollercoaster ride of emotions for high school athletes and their fans. Things started off on a sour note with the announcement that there would be no contact sports in the fall. The news improved with the announcement that sports would happen, but some were upset about the limited capacity at the games. Now the MHSAA has announced that capacity at all fall and early winter sporting events is being increased.

The announcement came Wednesday from MHSAA Executive Director, Mark Uyl. In a press release, Uyl announced that the capacity at any indoor event would increase to 20% of full, and 30% of full at any outdoor event. There  are a few limits put in place though for both indoor and outdoor events.

The maximum number of spectators at any indoor venue is capped at 500 people, and the maximum number of spectators at any outdoor venue is capped at 1,000 people.

You can read the full press release, along with the guidelines here.

Some of the headlines that you may see will tell you that the capacity at any HS football game is 1,000 people, but that's not entirely true. The spectator limit is based on the overall capacity of the stadium. The spectator capacity is capped at 1,000 for any stadium that holds 3,333 people or more. Most of the stadiums in our area are not that big, so the spectator capacity limit will be smaller for smaller venues.

This is an important detail, especially considering how worked up some people have been getting over the spectator limit.

None of the safety guidelines for the players, and coaches have changed at all in the new guidelines. If you are planning on going to check out a high school sporting event after the new guidelines take effect on October 9th, you should probably read through the details here.