Notre Dame Football Plans for Full Capacity at Home Games in 2021
A full Notre Dame Stadium is on the horizon this fall.
Notre Dame announced its plan Wednesday to make all 77,622 seats in the stadium available for purchase during the 2021 season. The Fighting Irish are preparing to join several other colleges and professional teams, including the NFL's Chicago Bears, across the country opening stadiums to full capacity.
Notre Dame limited capacity to 20% during the 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Students, faculty, staff and families of teams playing in the game were allowed in.
The largest home crowd was 11,011 for Notre Dame's 47-40 double overtime victory against then-No. 1 Clemson on Nov. 7. By comparison the smallest crowd of 6,831 attended the Irish's home finale, a 45-21 victory against Syracuse on Dec. 5. Notre Dame totaled 58,616 fans across six home games this past season.
The Irish finished the regular season 10-0, including six wins at home. Notre Dame then fell to then-No. 3 Clemson 34-10 in the ACC Championship Game and to eventual College Football Playoff champion Alabama 31-14 in a CFP semifinal.
The Irish have seven home games on their schedule for the upcoming season. Notre Dame has won 24 straight home games and is five victories away from setting a new record for the longest home winning streak in program history.
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2021 Notre Dame Home Schedule
Sept. 11: Toledo
Sept. 18: Purdue
Oct. 2: Cincinnati
Oct. 23: USC
Oct. 30: North Carolina
Nov. 6: Navy
Nov. 20: Georgia Tech