Season-ticket holders asked to take survey about upcoming season

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Penn State announced that eight student athletes have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a news release from the school.

The university has conducted 466 tests on its student athletes with 66 still pending results.

“The health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and the broader community are of the utmost importance,” the release read. “Therefore, as part of the protocols established in the return to campus plan by the Penn State Athletics medical staff and in consultation with University, local and national officials and guidelines, individuals with a positive test have been put into isolation for 14 days and will be retested at that point. In addition to isolation, contact tracing procedures have been implemented, which includes quarantine and testing for those individuals who might have been exposed, even if asymptomatic.”

The school did not identify which team was affected. Though the football team has the most players on campus, there are six total sports training, including men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer and women’s volleyball.

Penn State is releasing total numbers for coronavirus testing every other Wednesday, with the next one coming next week. Last week, the school announced that one student-athlete had tested positive.

In the coming weeks, the NCAA will allow formal training camps and practices to open on Aug. 6, but nothing is certain past that. The Big Ten and Pac-12 have already canceled all non-conference games for 2020 with no announcements yet for a start date or proposed schedule amid the nationwide surge of COVID-19.

Fan survey

Also on Thursday, Penn State sent a survey to season ticket holders, seeking opinions on the upcoming season.

Among the questions asked was if fans would feel comfortable attending games, would they attend watch parties if they were unable to attend games and would fans donate a portion of their tickets to allow for a “students-only” game.

It’s the second time in recent weeks that season ticket holders were asked to take a survey.

“We wanted to circle back with our loyal fans to gather more invaluable feedback as we continue to develop our plan for the fall,” Penn State vice president for intercollegiate athletics Sandy Barbour wrote in an email to season ticket holders. “We would like to gain information from you through a fan survey.”

On Wednesday, Ohio State announced it would limit its stadium to 20% capacity if games are played in the fall.