COLUMBUS — There will be no attendance records broken at Ohio Stadium for this season’s Ohio State spring football game.
The Buckeyes’ stadium — which maintains an official capacity of 104,944 — will be without more than 20,000 seats Saturday because of renovations to the east side of C deck, which is across from the press box and suite level.
The school made the announcement Monday.
Ohio State is in the process of a multi-year restoration project to preserve coating and concrete in the stadium, which was built in 1922.
This update focuses on C deck. Ohio State commissioned similar work to the A and B decks in previous years.
Ohio State broke its own attendance record for the spring game last year. After a public appeal from Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer to surpass the six-digit mark, Ohio State sold out its allotment of tickets and a total of 100,089 fans watched the Buckeyes’ final scrimmage of the spring.
The Buckeyes became the first college football program to crack 100,000 fans at a spring game in the process.
According to Ohio State, the official capacity for the 2017 spring game will be 84,000.
The Buckeyes set the Ohio Stadium attendance record during their last regular-season game there, a noon start against Michigan in November. Ohio State surpassed its previous stadium record as 110,045 fans saw the Buckeyes beat the Wolverines in double overtime.
Ohio State had three of its 10 biggest home crowds during the 2016 season. Home dates against Nebraska (108,750, No. 3) and Indiana (107,420, No. 10) joined the Michigan game in the top 10.
The Buckeyes have performed several stadium updates in recent years.
Ohio State added 2,500 seats to the south stands before the 2014 season, and also completed a $7 million renovation to the scoreboard in 2012.
From 1998-2001, Ohio State spent $194 million to modernize the stadium, which included a replacement of the press box, new luxury suites, additional seating, and removal of the track outside the playing surface.
Contact Nicholas Piotrowicz at: npiotrowicz@theblade.com, 724-6110, or on Twitter @NickPiotrowicz
First Published April 11, 2017, 4:34 a.m.
