With Americans celebrating Labor Day today, the mind inevitably turns towards the start of that Biggest of Beasts dominating the US sports economy, the NFL season.
Critical for all of us in the realm of official VIP hospitality is understanding where each of the NFL franchises sit with regard allowing fans into the venues.
The season kicks off on September 10.
Back in May and well before the extent of the coronavirus’ impact on the USA was evident, NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent said the league was ‘planning to have full stadiums until the medical community tells us otherwise.’ But those assumptions have changed with the rising cases across the country.
In addition, for the most part, these are issues that are devolved to state and city public health officials. In trying to avoid outbreaks by banning large gatherings, the prospects of having a significant number of fans have all but dwindled.
Front Office Sports have done an excellent survey of where the NFL franchises currently stand on this.
What the Center for Disease Control wants to see from their social distancing guidelines is attendance that is no more than about 20-25% of an otherwise full venue.
Front Office Sports says that, ‘many teams are ready to follow the guidelines and assess the situation on a week-to-week basis, which is contingent on the number of cases in their particular city indicating that the situation remains highly fluid between the teams and city authorities.
‘Consequently, the pandemic has upended ticket sales. The NFL stands to lose about $5.5 billion — or 38% — of its stadium revenue, based on 2018 league numbers, according to Forbes. The impact on each team will differ.’
NFL Team 2020 Fan Attendance Tracker, as of close of business on September 4:
Teams That Will Not Have Fans in Attendance:
Arizona Cardinals (first two home games)
Atlanta Falcons (through Sept.)
Baltimore Ravens (until further notice)
Buffalo Bills (for the first two home games)
Chicago Bears (until further notice)
Cincinnati Bengals (for home opener)
Carolina Panthers (for Week 1)
Denver Broncos (for home opener)
Detroit Lions (through Oct.)
Green Bay Packers (for first two home games)
Houston Texans (through Sept.)
Las Vegas Raiders (for 2020 season)
Los Angeles Chargers (until further notice)
Los Angeles Rams (until further notice)
Minnesota Vikings (for first two home games)
New England Patriots (through Sept.)
New Orleans Saints (for home opener)
New York Giants (until further notice)
New York Jets (until further notice)
Philadelphia Eagles (until further notice)
Pittsburgh Steelers (for the first two home games)
San Francisco 49ers (for the first home game)
Seattle Seahawks (for first three home games)
Tennessee Titans (through Sept.)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (for first two games)
Washington Football Team (for 2020 season)
Teams That Will Have Fans in Attendance:
Indianapolis Colts (capped at 2,500 fans)
Jacksonville Jaguars (capped at 16,791 fans)
Kansas City Chiefs (capped at 16,046 fans)
Miami Dolphins (capped at 13,000 fans)
Teams That Have Not Yet Made a Formal Statement:
Yet to confirm to Front Office Sports:
Cleveland Browns
Dallas Cowboys
