Whether or not you’re able to attend a Bears game at Soldier Field this season is reportedly up to the Bears and the state of Illinois.
The Athletic reported on Tuesday that as of now, the NFL will not dictate how many fans are allowed in the stands. They will leave that decision up to the teams and local governments.
If that sounds a bit unfair to you, you’re not alone.
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“I’m shocked by that,” Patrick Ryan, the co-founder of ticket buyer and advisor Eventellect told The Athletic. “Because I think you’ll see some markets like let’s just say Jacksonville where they’re like, ‘Fine, you can have 100 percent attendance.’ And then like, LA is like 15 percent attendance.
“I would just think that the owner in LA, he would say, ‘This is unfair, this is a huge disadvantage.’ But it seems like that’s kind of the tone the league office is currently taking.”
There are also obvious health concerns with bringing that many people together in the middle of a global pandemic.
To address those issues, The Athletic reports the NFL will release a set of recommendations for safely reopening stadiums by next week or early July.
NFL
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Phase 4 guidelines for the entire state on Monday. Included in that plan was a limit to 20% attendance capacity for outdoor spectator sports, which would include Soldier Field.
Under those guidelines around 12,000 fans would be allowed to watch a Bears game in person, however the team could decide to allow fewer fans inside.
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