DePaul announced on Monday that they will continue to play all home games without fans in attendance due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. 

The athletic department made a similar announcement in November for men’s and women’s basketball, with fans still not allowed into Wintrust Arena this season. 

But they have now included cross country, golf, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, track and field and volleyball to the list of DePaul sports that will start their seasons without any fans for home games. 

“The health and safety of the DePaul community continues to be a top priority,” a statement from the release read. “In order to allow competitions to take place given current health restrictions, DePaul Athletics will continue to operate home events with essential personnel only. The athletics department will continue to evaluate fan attendance for future competitions and follow guidance from the CDC, the Chicago Department of Health, the BIG EAST Conference and the DePaul Community Health team when making these decisions.”

Besides men’s and women’s basketball, every other DePaul sport is getting ready to start in the coming days and weeks. Fall sports like men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball got pushed back to the spring because of Covid-19 concerns, and they are planning to start their seasons in February.

Most DePaul teams will play an abbreviated schedule this season to limit travel. Both soccer teams and the volleyball team will play in the Midwest division of the Big East this season, going up only against Butler, Marquette, Xavier and Creighton in the regular season. 

DePaul hasn’t fully closed the door on allowing fans into home games this season, but that will depend on how Chicago manages the pandemic going forward.

 If DePaul is eventually allowed to bring in fans before this season ends, then any ticket opportunities will be made available on a single ticket event basis, according to the athletic department.