With temperature for Saturday’s kickoff to the football season promising to reach the low to mid-90s, Kinnick Stadium staff and officials are attempting to take the necessary precautions to ensure safety for fans on game day.
University officials said fans are encouraged to stay hydrated before, during, and after the game when the Hawkeyes take on Northern Illinois University at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Officials will also allow fans to bring in clear, unopened water bottles of their own, and vendors have announced their bottled water will be sold for half price.
Cooling stations — fans with cooling misters — will be available in all four corners of the stadium for free.
Kinnick officials have lined up extra medical staff to assist fans who may succumb to the heat.
Director of Athletics Communications Steve Roe is confident that Kinnick staff and officials are prepared for Saturday’s conditions.
“We have outstanding medical and athletics training staff here at the University of Iowa,” he said. “They’ve prepared our players in practices and past games, and I’m sure they’ll do a great job again on Saturday.”
Saturday’s game theme is “Be Bold, Wear Gold.” Fans are encouraged to participate in this theme and not wear black clothing. Officials also suggest that fans wear lightweight, loose-fitting clothing.
Roe is convinced, however, that Kinnick will have a great turnout even with the blazing heat wave.
“The ticket office continues to have a good run of sales every day, and we expect that Kinnick will be at or near capacity by Saturday,” he said.
Despite the steady flow of sales, the UI has sold less student season tickets this year than in the past.
In the past five years student season tickets have completely sold out. Typically the UI will sell somewhere from 10,000 to 10,300 season tickets. This year the UI has sold approximately 7,500 tickets. As a result, the school is offering a special promotion to ticket holders; they can now purchase guest tickets for $40.
Students said they are not letting the heat stop them from attending, either.
Freshman Carly Allen said she is going to drink lots of water to keep hydrated for the game. She wants everyone to come out to the game, because it’s the first.
“You have to go big or go home,” she said.
Senior Samantha Kuderna has no reservations about attending the hot game on Saturday, and she encourages all of her fellow Hawkeye classmates to come out, regardless of the heat.
“I think we need as much support as we can possibly get,” she said. “I don’t think the heat is going to stop any of the Hawkeye fans because they are all super crazy about Iowa.”
