Newcastle basketball team, the Newcastle Eagles, will host a pilot exhibition match with spectators in attendance for the first time in six months.
The Eagles Community Arena will be one of 11 venues chosen across a variety of sporting events taking place across the country with spectators between August 29 and September 26.
A reduced capacity crowd will be able to watch the basketball action whilst social distancing. Advanced bookings and Test and Trace procedures will also be in place for fans.
The match is the only basketball fixture announced to return with fans and will take place on Friday, September 18, 2020. The opponents for the Eagles have not been announced.
Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announced on August 15 that pilot matches with a limited number of fans would take place before the full return of spectators to sporting events by in England by October. This is dependent on the outcome of the pilot events and on the rates of infection of coronavirus remaining low across the country.
Cricket matches at Edgbaston and the Oval were played out in front of fans earlier in August, while a reduced capacity also attended the Snooker World Championship finals at the Crucible, Sheffield.
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden, said: “I know fans and their teams can’t wait to be reunited in stadia across the country but it’s imperative we take a cautious and phased approach to get fans back in safely.
“I’m pleased that infection rates have levelled off enough to resume the pilot programme and we will continue to work intensively with sports, medical and health and safety experts towards welcoming more fans back as fast as we can.”
