The First Look at What Boone Pickens Stadium Seating Will Look Like in 2020

It looks as if people will have some elbow room when sitting in Boone Pickens Stadium this fall.

Oklahoma State senior associate athletic director Kevin Klintworth tweeted out a picture Thursday morning with spaced out groups of seats in the northwest corner of BPS in what looks like will be the plan for the Cowboys’ upcoming game against Tulsa.

This makes it seem more real #okstate @CowboyFB @OSUAthletics pic.twitter.com/pwXReLhwsX

— Kevin Klintworth (@KKlintworth) August 27, 2020

Getting as much ticket revenue as possible is a big deal for athletic departments all across the country, but those departments are tasked with doing so in a safe manner amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

OSU’s solution is to fill only 25 percent of Boone Pickens Stadium’s 55,509-seat capacity, limiting seating to about 14,000 patrons being able to watch in person. That’s still more than a full 13,611 Gallagher-Iba Arena.

It could be a nice experience for some not having to be as close to the drunk guy a few seats down and not being fearful the person behind you will kick over their drink.

The seating should also afford the Cowboys some sort of home-field advantage, something quarterback Spencer Sanders said is important to him.

“You can play football without fans,” Sanders said on OSU’s ESPN+ docuseries. “It’s just like practice. Everybody practices hard, but fans, like, that’s a momentum changer. You throw a touchdown and you look at the stands and you got about 60,000 people just screaming for you, that’s just different. Going into a season without that, that’s … I mean it’s gonna suck, but am I gonna play? Yeah, I gonna play. It’s just not gonna be the same as it was.”

The idea of playing in front of fewer people is different for different players. Cowboy back Logan Carter said it’s cool to feel a crowd’s energy, but it isn’t something that he puts too much focus into pointing out that he just wants to get his mother and sister into games. Carter also added that guys who do feed off the crowd will have to find another way to “get your juice going.”

Sophomore defensive standout Trace Ford said if the Cowboys’ games are anywhere near as passionate as the practices are going, OSU will be fine no matter the crowd size.

“Our intensity is pretty intense at practice,” Ford said. “We get into it, we have fun. I think it’s just going to roll into the season. We don’t need fans at the stadium to know that they’re watching us. I think we’re gonna come with the same heat that we have at practice and roll in and win.”