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Following discussions between state and city officials on Friday and this morning, fans are still banned from attending University of Hawaii sporting events over coronavirus concerns.
“Unfortunately, the answer is still no,” Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said after a Zoom meeting with Governor David Ige this morning. The governor was unavailable for comment this morning.
Dr. Elizabeth Char, director of the Hawaii Department of Health, Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara, the director of the state emergency management agency, chief of staff to Mayor Sam Moku, and city and county legal advisors also attended the meeting this morning, Blangiardi said.
That request included consideration for next Saturday’s football game against Fresno State and is the latest of several proposals to UH to accommodate fans that have been turned down since the government order in late August. According to the mandate, 10 people are allowed inside and 25 outside at certain events in Oahu due to a surge in coronavirus cases.
The restrictions, which were extended for a second 28-day period this week, can be adjusted as conditions change, officials said.
The school has hoped to host at least some vaccinated, masked, and socially distant family and friends of student athletes at its sporting events, as COVID-19 numbers in Hawaii have declined since spiked in early September.
UH also has a soccer game on Thursday at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium and a Rainbow Wahine volleyball game on Friday at the SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center.
This season, UH has already played its first two soccer games at the Clarence TC Ching Complex on campus, its first five volleyball home games on campus, and home soccer games in Waipio and on campus without spectators.
Each home soccer game at the 9,000-seat Ching complex can generate approximately $ 570,000 in revenue, said UH Athletic Director David Matlin earlier this month. Volleyball games fetch around $ 75,000 each. There is no entry fee for UH football matches.
UH athletes have not played in front of their home audience since spring 2020 due to COVID-19 precautions. Hawaii is the only one of the 130 FBS (top division college football) teams not to allow fans to play home games this season.
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