If there are fans at the Kentucky Derby, will there be fans at Kroger Field?
So if Kentucky does have a college football season this fall, will there be fans at Kroger Field?
Mitch Barnhart was asked that question Monday.
His answer: Maybe, maybe not.
The UK athletics director was on a Zoom video conference call introducing new Kentucky cheerleading coach Ryan Martin O’Connor. Barnhart also took questions about other issues, including the issue on everyone’s mind: Will there be football in the fall?
Barnhart said schools have been focusing on safely bringing student-athletes back to school for voluntary workouts. Now, he said, they can also focus on finding a way to safely “return to play” in the fall.
He was asked if he was encouraged by the fact Churchill Downs announced last week it has been given the go-ahead to have fans attend the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5. UK’s football opener is Sept. 3 against Eastern Michigan at Kroger Field.
“We’re working our way through all those details,” Barnhart said. “I think there’s going to be clearly conversations as it relates to activities in our state. There’s clearly conversations that will take place as it relates to activities in our league. So we’ve got to combine all these pieces of information and pull them together in a spot where it’s best for the University of Kentucky and our fan base. And we’re not there yet.
“That’s encouraging to me that we will have opportunities to bring out people back together, but that’s one component and one piece in return to play.”
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said last week it might be late July before we know whether there will be college football this fall.
“I think that’s probably a late-July time period. My thinking has shifted a bit,” Sankey told Rich Eisen. “We started June 8 after a two-week oversight, diagnostic medical exam period for these voluntary activities. We’ll have three or four weeks — on the 13th of July is when a little bit more practice can begin. I think we deserve the chance to see how that progresses. I would say before we get into full-blown practice, you’re going to be in that decision-making process as it relates to what happens on Labor Day weekend, which is the scheduled start of the season.”
Churchill Downs has not yet said how many spectators will be allowed to attend the Kentucky Oaks on Sept. 4 or the Kentucky Derby the next day.
This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 4:28 PM.
