Mayor Steve Hagerty joined 11 other mayors of cities in which Big Ten teams play to call on the conference to consider community positivity rates when deciding whether games should be held in a Tuesday news release.

The release said the communities holding football games should have just as much of an impact on a game’s status as teams’ testing regimens. Though games will have significantly limited spectator counts, which will be comprised of families of players, fans and college students will likely still participate in gameday activities, which could increase the spread of COVID-19, according to the release.

“Please include the communities where you will be holding games in your conversations and assign a metric to this that is similar to what has already been laid out for your teams,” the release said. “We do not expect this metric to be in line with the current standard for the team; however, similar standards being applied to the communities this will affect is necessary to keep people safe.”

In August, the conference canceled all sports for fall 2020, but the decision was reversed on Sept. 16. All football teams are slated to play a nine game schedule, and players are tested daily for COVID-19.

Additionally, the mayors asked the conference to release schedules as soon as possible, and to attempt to schedule games during the morning and early afternoon, as later games are associated with “increased activity,” according to the release. The conference released matchups and game dates on Sept. 19, but game times have not yet been announced.

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