MISSION VALLEY, Calif. (KGTV) — The record heatwave caused dozens of Aztec fans to seek medical help during San Diego State University's football game this past Saturday.
"We just had the hottest football game in the 100-year history of Aztec's football," said John David Wicker, SDSU's Athletics Director.
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One man who attended the game posted a TikTok showing hundreds of people huddled together in the shaded stadium areas as temperatures stretched into the 90s.
Wicker said they provided cooling stations throughout the stadium and passed out free water during the game.
"So we had fogging machines, one for the players, but on the concourse, we had multiple places where you could get into the big fog, cool zone," Wicker said.
However, with kickoff at 12:30 in the afternoon, the heat was too much for some fans.
"I think we have somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 medical requests during the game. Obviously, the overwhelming majority of those were related to the heat," Wicker said.
Wicker adds he estimates between 20 to 30 people were taken to the hospital.
Despite the heat, Wicker said he believes fans were able to enjoy the game as much as they could.
"We still felt good about the turnout. We felt good about how the building operated," Wicker said.
He said he doesn't expect future games to have similar issues since most are late afternoon or evening games.
But he said the game was a learning experience.
"Going forward, if we know we're going to run into something like that, we now have a plan for what it looks like when it's a hundred degrees at 12:30," Wicker said
Falck, San Diego's ambulance provider, said its call volume across the city was up 122% over average on Saturday.
