Fans Petitioning for Loosening Million Dollar Band COVID Restrictions

By WVUA 23 Digital Reporter Sidney Spencer

TUSCALOOSA, AL-  In response to the new performance restrictions for the University of Alabama’s Million Dollar Band two petitions were drafted.

One petition is requesting that the band perform on the field before the game and during halftime.

The second petition consists of allowing every member to perform at the home games.

In accordance with SEC rules, the overall capacity at Bryant-Denny Stadium was reduced to 20% of its capacity.

Those restrictions include the Million Dollar Band.

As of now the SEC has made the decision to restrict bands from performing on the field before the game and during halftime.

The University of Alabama’s Department of Athletics Senior Associate Director Jessica Pare said the combined numbers for the band and other spirit groups are consistent with the stadiums overall allowed capacity.

“Despite the daunting challenges we face along with our counterparts throughout the conference and the country, we feel strongly that our staff has developed a plan that works best for all constituencies,” said Pare.

The department said that they plan to continue evaluating all measure and hope to increase capacity later in the season but that is subject to mandatory regulations and COVID-29 testing availability.

Consequently, the University’s decision to reduce each band number to perform at 1 or 2 games has pushed parents like George Hicks to ask for change.

“I think the band members sacrifice and work very hard for the University. They give up their time, they take a class and they pay for that class to participate in marching band. They go through a grueling audition and I think they’re a very important part of the university and would just hope that they would be given the opportunity to perform at every game,” said Hicks.

Although he appreciates all what UA has done for the band, he admits that he would like for them to reconsider their decision and find a creative way to have all the band members perform at each home game.

As of now, both petitions are have received over 1,500 signatures.

The goal is to get UA and the SEC to change their decision to allow conference marching bands to perform before the game and during halftime, while also allowing the full band to attend each home game.

To read more about the petition to allow SEC marching bands to perform on the field, visit change.org/secmarchingbands

The petition that will allow the University of Alabama Million Dollar Band to attend all home games can be found at change.org/MDBhomegames.