North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced that, beginning Oct. 2 at 5 p.m., state administrators will start loosening restrictions on large outdoor venues, including stadiums, in a press conference on Tuesday, Sept. 22.

According to the press conference, venues with a seating capacity greater than 10,000 can open at 7% capacity after Oct. 2. This includes stadiums like Bank of America Stadium and Carter-Finley Stadium, both of which have seating capacities of over 50,000.

Based on the 7% capacity given in the press conference, NC State’s Carter-Finley Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 57,583, would be able to allow just over 4,000 fans. None of the other outdoor athletics venues used by NC State have a capacity large enough to be impacted by this change.

Carter-Finley has seen more relaxed capacity restrictions in the past week when parents of NC State football players asked Gov. Cooper to allow restricted attendance for them to watch their kids play. Two tickets were given to each player, and in the end, 250 seats were allowed for the NC State side and 100 filled for Wake Forest’s side in the game on Saturday. 

NC State Athletics has a few weeks to come up with, and implement, a plan for fans to be in the stands after Oct. 2, as the first home football game after Oct. 2 is not until Oct. 17, when the Wolfpack is set to host the Duke Blue Devils. In total, NC State football has five home games after Oct. 2.

NC State Athletics announced on Aug. 31 that fans would not be allowed to attend fall sports games for the month of September because of state guidelines, but would reevaluate the situation for the month of October. 

Technician has reached out to NC State Athletics for a statement regarding this announcement from Gov. Cooper and will update this story if and when a statement is issued.