It’s too early to rule whether or not fans of James Madison football will be able to fill seats at Bridgeforth Stadium this fall.

On Tuesday, JMU assistant athletic director for communications Kevin Warner told the Daily News-Record the school has regular dialogue with members from a state task force related to large public events and entertainment venues.

Warner said at this point, it isn’t clear what – or if any – maximum capacity restrictions could be in place come Sept. 5, the first Saturday of the college football season.

According to the Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s Phase 3 reopening guidelines released earlier this month, occupancy at places for entertainment and public amusement, which includes sports venues, cannot exceed 1,000 people.

The Dukes had an average home attendance of 18,108 in 2019, which was the third highest figure in all of FCS last year per the National Football Foundation. A home-venue high for last fall had 25,076 witness JMU’s top-five clash with Villanova.

JMU is currently in the midst of rebuilding its 2020 slate after it announced last week it would pursue a schedule as an FCS independent. The Dukes’ league, the Colonial Athletic Association, said it wouldn’t play football this fall due to the coronavirus pandemic, but would allow its member schools to do so if they elect to play on their own. JMU and Elon are the only CAA schools committed to trying to play this fall.

Elsewhere around the country in regard to attendance, the University of Texas is planning to limit its capacity at football games to 50 percent, the Houston Chronicle reported Monday.

And earlier on Tuesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters college sports events can take place in the Empire State, but no fans can be in attendance. One day earlier in New Jersey, NJ.com reported the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets would play without fans at MetLife Stadium and that Rutgers University planned to limit its crowd to fewer than 500 spectators.