UCLA Barring Fans From Indoor Events Through January 21 Due to COVID-19

Just over 48 hours before the next scheduled tip-off, UCLA Athletics has announced that no fans will be allowed to at least the next few games at Pauley Pavilion.

The department, under direction for UCLA's COVID-19 Response and Recovery Task Force, said that all indoor athletics competitions will be limited to families of team members through Jan. 21. UCLA said it will be monitoring the situation on a day-to-day basis with a goal of bringing fans back as soon as possible.

The games affected by the new policy include UCLA men's basketball's games against Oregon and Oregon State on Thursday and Saturday, UCLA women's basketball's games against Washington, Washington State and USC on Jan. 14, Jan. 16 and Jan. 20 and UCLA men's volleyball's matches against Princeton and Ohio State on Jan. 15 and Jan. 21.

UCLA gymnastics' first two meets of the 2022 season are on the road, so their schedule will not be impacted unless the policy is extended through the end of the month or beyond.

All four of the indoor sports that are in season have struggled with COVID-19 outbreaks of their own, with 16 competitions getting canceled between them since the middle of December. However, each team is out of quarantine and has returned to competition or practice, meaning this new mandate has more to do with rising COVID-19 numbers in Los Angeles and across the country than it does with the teams themselves.

UCLA men's basketball had to play its Jan. 6 game against Long Beach State at Pauley Pavilion without the general public in the stands, but that was seen as a one-off move at the time considering the matchup was cobbled together at the last second and was locked in less than 48 hours before the opening tip.

Coach Mick Cronin told the media Tuesday that he was not included in any conversations surrounding attendance policies, although he made it clear what his opinion on the matter was.

"You know where I stand on that, can't be enough people in there for me," Cronin said. "My obvious concerns would be, one, support of our players and this group of guys that has been special to the university, guys who came back to school. And two is competitive advantage versus disadvantage, cause when we go on the road, we're definitely playing in packed houses."

Across the Pac-12, the Bruins had to play in front of a regular crowd at Cal on Saturday and will have to do the same next week against Utah and Colorado. 

Even elsewhere in Los Angeles, many attendance rules have yet to be altered in response to the recent outbreak.

The Rams hosted 74,447 fans Sunday at SoFi Stadium just 13 miles south of Westwood, while the Lakers and Clippers continue to draw upwards of 15,000 patrons a night at the newly-minted Crypto.com Arena. Crosstown rival USC previously announced it would be barring fans from indoor events through Jan. 14, but there has been no word on a possible extension of that policy.

COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County peaked with just over 49,000 on Jan. 4, but that figure dropped to less than 14,000 by Jan. 8.

The refund policy for season ticket holders and fans who had pre-purchased single-game tickets has yet to be disclosed by UCLA.

UCLA moved the first two weeks of its winter quarter classes online in response to the surge of the omicron variant back on Dec. 21, and then the university extended that virtual learning period through Jan. 28 last Friday.

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