After a year away, fans will be back in Wintrust Arena when DePaul men’s and women’s basketball teams take the court for the first time this season. As fans fill Wintrust Arena for DePaul games again, DePaul Athletics announced there will be new changes to the arena and new protocols that all fans are expected to follow.

Covid kept fans out of Wintrust last season, and DePaul Athletics is focused on keeping students safe at games this season.

Therefore, every person of the age two years and up must wear a face covering unless eating or drinking, and the concourses will have stations with hand sanitizers. However, DePaul Athletics and Wintrust are not requiring vaccinations, and instead they are just encouraged.   

To help with crowds, fans will be able to enter Wintrust two hours before the start of games instead of an hour and a half. However, guests will not be able to use cash at the box office and concession stands once inside the arena.

 DePaul students will have their own door at the main entrance to enter Wintrust Arena, and they must enter through that door only or their tickets won’t work. 

Once inside Wintrust, there will no longer be printed programs with the roster and game information. Instead, QR codes will be provided at entry and can be found all over the arena that fans can scan for the information. 

DePaul is now offering discounts on up to four tickets for full-time employees and recent graduates. Employees will get a 20 percent discount off full-priced tickets in lower-level and 200-level areas, while graduates from the class of 2017-2021 may be eligible to receive a 50 percent discount off full ticket prices in 100-level sections.

For certain games, the Marriott Marquis Chicago will host the Blue Demon Pregame Celebration that fans and alumni can attend.  

Both the men and women teams open their season with back-to-back exhibition games on Nov. 4. The women begin their regular season on Nov. 9 at home against Texas Southern University and the men follow the next day against Coppin State University.