Duke

Food and drink ban for Duke basketball games at Cameron Indoor Stadium comes to end

Fans walk past closed concession stands before Duke’s game against Miami at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C., Saturday, January 8, 2022.
Fans walk past closed concession stands before Duke’s game against Miami at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C., Saturday, January 8, 2022. ehyman@newsobserver.com

The ban on concession sales at Cameron Indoor Stadium that Duke implemented last month is coming to an end.

The school announced Friday it will resume selling food and beverages during men’s and women’s basketball games, beginning with Sunday night’s women’s basketball game between Wake Forest and the Blue Devils.

Duke originally cut out concession sales on Jan. 7 due to rising COVID-19 cases on campus and in the community.

Duke already has a mask mandate in place for anyone inside the arena for both men’s and women’s basketball games. Last fall, the school also established rules stipulating anyone attending events must either be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or show proof of a negative test within 72 hours of the event they are attending.

Because eating and drinking provide situations for people to temporarily remove their masks, the school cut out concession services, twice extending the ban since it was first implemented.

The removal of the rule means spectators can purchase food and beverages again when Duke’s men’s basketball team plays Virginia on Monday night at 7 p.m. That is the first of the last four games Mike Krzyzewski will coach the Blue Devils at Cameron prior to his planned retirement.

This story was originally published February 4, 2022 at 4:47 PM.

Steve Wiseman
The News & Observer
Steve Wiseman was named Raleigh News & Observer and Durham Herald-Sun sports editor in May 2025. He covered Duke athletics, beginning in 2010, prior to his current assignment. In the Associated Press Sports Editors national contest, he placed in the top 10 in beat writing in 2019, 2021 and 2022, breaking news in 2019, event coverage in 2025 and explanatory writing in 2018. Before coming to Durham in 2010, Steve worked for The State (Columbia, SC), Herald-Journal (Spartanburg, S.C.), The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.), Charlotte Observer and Hickory (NC) Daily Record covering beats including the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints, University of South Carolina athletics and the S.C. General Assembly. He’s won numerous state-level press association awards. Steve graduated from Illinois State University in 1989. 
Get unlimited digital access
#ReadLocal

Try 1 month for $1

CLAIM OFFER