Leading up to the start of the 2020 NFL season, each team came up with their own plan for spectators in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
While the majority of teams are not allowing fans to attend games for at least the first two or three home games, the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars allowed fans to attend games at limited capacity from week one.
Despite upholding limited capacity and strict safety protocols, it is still too dangerous to allow fans to attend games.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus can easily spread in large crowds. Currently, some organizations like the Indianapolis Colts are only allowing 2,500 spectators at home games, which is a very small number compared to the Chiefs and Jaguars who are allowing approximately 16,000 spectators.
The more fans teams allow in a stadium, the higher the chance that the virus will spread, no matter the size of the stadium. Regardless of how many spectators each team decides to let into the stadium, no one should be allowed in because the threat of spreading the virus is too great.
Unfortunately, a fan who attended the Chiefs’ home opener tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after being at the game. However, only 10 fans were told to quarantine after the game.
While only having one reported case out of almost 16,000 fans in attendance is impressive, what happened in Kansas City during week one can easily happen in every crowded stadium on a much greater scale.
Of course, more teams are going to start allowing fans to attend games after seeing the Chiefs’ and Jaguars’ successes. The Chiefs’ and Jaguars’ home openers proved that teams are capable of hosting fans safely and without any major incidents occurring.
Despite the lack of major outbreaks so far, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t a possibility for one to occur. All it takes is one significant outbreak to spread the virus in a city across the country. While it is possible to have spectators at NFL games in limited quantities this season, the NFL should follow the example of the majority of its franchises and not allow spectators to attend games.
