Marquette Announces No Spectators At Basketball Games

On Thursday, Marquette athletics got on board the same plan that Connecticut, Seton Hall, and Villanova have already all announced. It’s official: There will be no spectators in attendance at Marquette men’s and women’s basketball games through at least the end of 2020.

This is due to the fact that we are in the eighth month of the United States at least pretending to take the coronavirus pandemic seriously and there is no end in sight. On Wednesday, the state of Wisconsin reported a record high total of new COVID-19 cases as well as a record high seven day average and a record high in positivity rate in tests. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, there has been an increase in the seven day average of 531% in the past eight weeks, so this announcement banning crowds at Fiserv Forum and the Al McGuire Center has clearly been a long time coming.

As a part of announcing that there will be no fans in attendance through the end of the year, Marquette also announced that there will not be season tickets for the 2020-21 season for either basketball team. I presume that this has to do with the fact that we’re 20 days away from the start of the season and we only have 10 men’s basketball games announced and only four for the women’s team. At this point, knowing that there won’t be paying customers through the end of the year, it’s just easier to chuck the whole concept in the bin for the year and, if possible, offer single game tickets if conditions allow in the future.

Here’s the quote from Marquette athletic director Bill Scholl in a very short press release:

“Unfortunately, given the current conditions relative to the pandemic, and after evaluating various scenarios, we have reached the conclusion that we will not be able to accommodate season tickets for the 2020-21 men’s and women’s basketball seasons,” Vice President and Director of Athletics Bill Scholl said.

”Further, it is unlikely we will be able to host fans at games for the remainder of this calendar year. We will continue to evaluate our options and be in touch with any individual game ticket opportunities in the new year if circumstances allow,” Scholl added.

Not mentioned in the press release but included in the email sent on the topic to both men’s and women’s basketball season ticket holders is the launch of Blue & Gold United, a new athletics focused fundraising initiative. Here’s a video:

According to the email sent to men’s basketball season ticket holders, the athletic department will soon be reaching out to people who have already made payments on 2020-21 season tickets. Your options will be 1) donating your money to the Blue & Gold United campaign, 2) rolling over the money, and 3) taking a refund. Any money that gets donated as a part of this transaction will give you triple season ticket points OR 100% tax deductibility, so that’s fun.

Steve Wojciechowski and the Marquette men’s team are set to open the 2020-21 season on November 25th with a game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. We’re still waiting on a tipoff time and any television broadcast information. As of right now, Megan Duffy and the MU women’s basketball team doesn’t have a game set until Friday, December 4, when they kick off Big East play by hosting Providence. Again, no tip time or viewing availability information there, so keep your eyes peeled for more news in that department in the next few weeks.