Governor ‘hopeful’ for football season

Gov. Asa Hutchinson talks about the steps needed to be taken before opening the state back up during the daily press briefing on Friday, April 17, 2020, at the state capitol in Little Rock.

— Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson weighed in Friday on the status of the upcoming college football season.

During his daily covid-19 news conference in Little Rock, Hutchinson was asked what he would tell those wondering about how the coronavirus pandemic would affect the Razorbacks’ football games in the fall.

“I don’t think right now anybody in Arkansas would feel comfortable going to a packed stadium,” Hutchinson said, “but I’m hopeful that whenever we get to July and August there will be that comfort level and that we’ll also have some of the new measures in place and the accommodations that we might have to make from a health standpoint in those types of facilities.

“That all depends upon the progress we make as a state and a nation, and secondly the partnership that the Department of Health will have with the sports teams and athletic teams across Arkansas to make sure it’s going to be a safe environment for fans and players.”

Hutchinson, who announced he hopes to begin lifting some coronavirus-related restrictions beginning May 4, said he has been in contact with University of Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek within the past week.

Making it a point to emphasize it was his personal opinion, Yurachek told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on April 9 that he thinks the college football season will be able to begin on time.

During a Snapchat interview this week, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said he could see a path for professional sports to resume this summer, but with crowd restrictions.

The Razorbacks are scheduled to open the season with a Sept. 5 game against Nevada in Fayetteville. During a radio interview Thursday, Yurachek expressed concern for players if attending games is deemed unsafe for fans.

“So somebody is going to have to really do a sales job on me and my colleagues throughout this industry about how it’s not safe to have fans in the stands but it’s safe for the young men to take the field,” Yurachek said on Halftime with Phil Elson.

Hutchinson echoed those sentiments Friday.

“It’s the health and safety of players, as well as the fans and making sure they feel comfortable,” Hutchinson said.

If the virus subsides this summer, state governors are likely to play a prominent role in how and how quickly sports are allowed to resume in the U.S. because of varying social-distancing guidelines that are based on the severity of the virus state to state.

Several governors have been asked about sporting events during news conferences and interviews this week.

When asked Tuesday about the potential for Ohio State to play football games, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said, “I would say that as you look at any kind of coming back that large gatherings of people are going to be the last thing that you check off the box and say ‘OK, we should be doing that.’”

On the same day, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said it was “unlikely” that sports would be played in his state this summer.

“The prospect of mass gatherings is negligible at best until we get to herd immunity and get to a vaccine,” Newsom said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

On Thursday, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey told AlabamaNews.net, “We all love football and we all look forward to the season. Right now we need to just keep on doing what we are doing for at least the next couple of weeks to get through this thing, then hopefully we can have a good football season, but to speculate on if and when we’re going to start is inappropriate at this time.”