Ohio State football hopes to have full capacity Ohio Stadium this fall

Ohio State began invoicing existing season-ticket holders Tuesday with plans to put tickets on sale for faculty and staff Wednesday.

Later this month, student ticket sales are scheduled to begin June 21 with plans to offer ticket packages of four or three games to the public in early August.

Single-game tickets could go on sale in the middle of August, at which point members of the Varsity O and the OSU Alumni Association would get an opportunity to buy tickets as they would in a normal year.

The school said season-ticket holders can expect to receive information regarding seat selection early next month.

That process will follow the development of safety protocols in partnership Columbus Public Health and other local health and medical officials.

“You’ll continue to hear that message of support for vaccinations a lot from our department, the university and Columbus Public Health because it is a key component to having a full stadium in the fall,” Smith said.

Whatever ticket options a fan takes, they will not have a physical ticket.

Ohio State announced all events will have mobile-only tickets to enable contactless entry at Ohio Stadium and the school’s other venues.

That also comes with the option to transfer tickets to other people or donate them to charity via the school’s ticket exchange.

Ohio State is set to begin the season Sept. 2 at Minnesota with the home-opener set for Sept. 11 against Oregon.

In Ohio, limits on attendance for sporting events are set to be lifted Wednesday per Gov. Mike DeWine.

Later Tuesday afternoon, Penn State announced it will return to capacity in all its athletic venues for the 2021-22 school year based on updated guidance from the Pennsylvania governor’s office.

“We are excited to welcome our 107,000 strong back in Beaver Stadium and full capacity at our other athletics venues this fall with the adjustments in university, local, state and CDC guidance,” PSU athletics director Sandy Barbour said in a statement. “Our fans are a true home-field advantage for all of our teams and the 2020-21 season was not the same without them in our venues.”

Ohio Stadium’s listed capacity is 102,780, but the Buckeyes averaged 103,383 fans per game in 2019. That figure includes everyone in the stadium, including players, coaches, security and media.

Last season, Ohio State began the season playing in front of only family and close acquaintances of players per Big Ten policy, but even they were not allowed in the final home game at the behest of local health officials in the wake of rising COVID-19 case counts in Ohio.

Officially, Ohio State listed home attendance at 1,085 per game for 2020.