The Miami Dolphins are ready for the 2020 NFL season to start with fans at the games. The team recently revealed a plan to host fans at Hard Rock Stadium with the coronavirus pandemic going on. Dolphins CEO/president Tom Garfinkel appeared on Good Morning America this week and shared and mock-up plan. It starts with fans entering the stadium at different times so everyone can be separated.
“We would have times to come in for security at different gates so people would be separated out, in terms of when they enter the stadium,” Garfinkel said, as transcribed by ESPN. “We would exit the stadium much like a church environment, where each row exits so people aren’t filing out all at the same time in a herd.” The plan also includes marking spots on the ground leading up the entrances to designate where fans need to stand in order to stay six feet apart. Also, all fans will be required to wear masks and order food from their seat and picking it up instead of waiting in line. Hard Rock Stadium has earned Global Biorisk Advisory Council’s STAR accreditation, which is “the standard used for facilities to implement cleaning, disinfecting and infectious disease prevention work practices to control risks involved with infectious agents like the coronavirus.”
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“When our fans, players and staff are able to return to Hard Rock Stadium, we want them to have peace of mind that we’re doing everything we can to create the safest and healthiest environment possible,” Garfinkel said. “We didn’t want to create our own standard, we wanted to be accountable to the most credible third-party standard that exists. Working with the GBAC ensures compliances with critical guidelines for the highest standard of cleanliness and it is our hope that other venues will follow suit as we navigate through these unprecedented times.”
The 2020 regular season schedule is set to be released on Thursday. However, the first game is set for Sept. 10 while the Super Bowl will take place on Feb. 7 in Tampa, Florida. The NFL has contingency plans in place, which includes pushing back the season five weeks. Also, the league has talked about having games in empty stadiums or stadiums with a limited number of fans.
