The NFL season is months away, and fans are expressing excitement about the new 17-game regular season. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has now provided another major update about the slate of upcoming games. He explained that the plan is to have full-capacity crowds at NFL games.
“We want to see every one of our fans back,” Goodell said on Tuesday, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. “We expect to have full stadiums in the coming season.” Goodell also told reporters that the league hosted 1.2 million fans during the COVID-19-altered season. He said that the NFL did so safely and now plans to fill the stadiums each week.
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The majority of NFL teams played their games in 2020 without any fans in attendance. The Las Vegas Raiders opened Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and had empty stands. The same situation unfolded in Los Angeles with the Rams and Chargers. The two Southern California teams played at an empty SoFi Stadium.
Other teams, however, welcomed limited-capacity crowds as the season progressed. The Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers had smaller crowds while following coronavirus guidelines. The Buffalo Bills also did so while hosting the first home playoff game in more than two decades.
Prior to Goodell’s press conference, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones provided optimism about the number of fans at football games in 2021. He met with the media to discuss quarterback Dak Prescott’s new contract but also took time to address other aspects of the team. “We’re gonna have that stadium full, and we’re gonna do it safe,” Jones told the assembled reporters.
In addition to proclaiming that AT&T Stadium will be full in 2021, Jones also provided updates about training camp. He said that the team would return to Oxnard, California, its traditional home for training camp. “I want you guys in Oxnard at training camp and working on stories. Of course, I want you to do a better job on stories on me,” Jones said, per NFL Network’s Jane Slater.
The Cowboys averaged 27,377 fans at home games, reaching a peak of 31,700 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The next-closest team was the Jacksonville Jaguars, who averaged 15,919 fans. There were multiple Florida-based teams that had clearance to hold games in front of full-capacity crowds, but they all opted to work with limited numbers throughout the season. Now the Dolphins, Buccaneers, Jaguars, and every other NFL team will likely have fully-packed stadiums in 2021.
