COLUMBUS, Ohio –– Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Monday that he expects stadiums across the state could be allowed to hold 30 percent capacity crowds come this spring, but the Ohio State Department of Athletics isn’t jumping to sell Spring Game tickets in the wake of that announcement.

In fact, athletic director Gene Smith said Wednesday on a Zoom call with the media that Ohio State will not be selling tickets for its football team’s annual spring exhibition at all this season.

“Right now we’re just on hold for the Spring Game. If we’re allowed to have fans, we will not have a ticketed event,” Smith said. “It will not be one where we charge.”

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With Ohio Stadium’s total capacity of 103,000, Ohio State could theoretically fill 30,000-plus seats at the Horseshoe, should DeWine’s plan come into action by the start of April.

However, those seats may not be open to the general public. While no official plan is in place just yet, Smith said that alongside the family members of participating student-athletes, he is looking to prioritize the attendance of frontline workers at the event.

“My hope is that we’ll have an opportunity to develop a strategy to recognize our frontline people. Our nurses, our doctors, our custodians, our bus drivers and all those people who’ve made so many sacrifices for us for a long time now,” Smith said. “That would be my hope, is that we could come up with a strategy to recognize them and invite them to the Spring Game.”

Smith said there’s still “a ways to go” before any details are made concrete.

Nonetheless, DeWine’s announcement at the start of the week is a positive sign for the Buckeye program heading into next football season, as Ohio State lost out on millions due to the lack of ticket sales in 2020-21.

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Whenever fans do make their eventual return, Smith said he doubts procedures will revert to pre-pandemic standards. Smith also did not speculate on how many fans he expected to be present at Ohio Stadium come next fall.

“My assumption is we’ll still have to do a number of different things around certain protocols, like wearing masks, things of that nature. But I can’t begin to share what I think capacity allowance will be,” Smith said. “I was really pleased to hear our governor say that his goal April 1 is to hopefully provide 30 percent capacity. After April 1, for arenas and things of that nature.”

While the proliferation of COVID-19 vaccines and declining case numbers continue to point toward a return of some semblance of normalcy coming down the pipeline, Smith knows how quickly plans can change due to the pandemic.

“I’m optimistic, but I was optimistic early last year, too,” Smith said.