This season, the NFL is allowing each individual team to decide whether to allow fans to attend live games at their venues. The result is an inevitably a mixed picture, representing the varied attitudes of team bosses as well as localised Covid-19 infection rates and regulatory tape.
However, the general trend is that more teams and venues are opening up their games to fans. In opening week only two games opened their doors to fans, this was double to four last week, and looks set for five games this week.
The Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium are currently leading the charge with nearly 22,000 fans at its home opening game. This is still only around a quarter of their normal 92,000 attendance but still represents a huge number in the backdrop of the pandemic.
The return of fans was welcomed by Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott who said: “I don’t know if I’ve been in many games like this thing, but to be able to get the win, and in front of those fans that were there, stayed the whole game, they didn’t give up on us. That was a huge difference.”
It should also be noted that if fans had their way, attendance may have been significantly higher, as a 25% capacity cap was set by the Cowboys. The same could not be said for the Miami Dolphins, who failed to sell out of their allotment of 13,000 tickets, with attendance at 11,075.
This week we expect to see five games with fans in attendance:
- Miami Dolphins at Jacksonville Jaguars – 25% capacity cap
- The Washington Football Team at Cleveland Browns – 6,000 cap
- New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts – 7,500 cap
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Denver Broncos – 5,700 cap
- Detroit Lions at Arizona Cardinals – 750 cap
Many teams have chosen to delay any decision on spectator attendance until 2021 when it is hoped they can more confidently welcome back fans either through trialled and tested precautions in the stadium and/or an improved Coronavirus outlook in the general area.