No fans allowed at Phillies, Eagles home games

PHILADELPHIA: The Philadelphia Phillies and Eagles will play in empty stadiums at home this season.

The city of Philadelphia on Tuesday cancelled all “large public events” through February 2021 amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“The Eagles are still going to be allowed to play, although without crowds. The Phillies will continue to be allowed to play, although without crowds,” the city’s managing director, Brian Abernathy, told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

City health commissioner Thomas Farley said although the NFL and MLB protocols for player safety “look pretty good,” having spectators at Lincoln Financial Field (Eagles) or Citizens Bank Park (Phillies) would not be safe.

“I do think that games can be played with the kind of safety precautions that they’re proposing. I do not think that they can have spectators at those games. There’s no way for them to be safe having a crowd there,” Farley said, per the Inquirer.

“I can’t say what the plans are for the league, but from a safety perspective, they can play games but not [have] crowds.”

The Eagles ranked 14th in the NFL in home attendance in 2019 with 558,268 fans, an average of 69,783 per game.

The Phillies finished 10th in MLB home attendance last season with 2.73 million fans, an average of 33,671 per contest.

PATRIOTS LIMIT ATTENDANCE

The New England Patriots’ Gillette Stadium will welcome about 20% of its usual crowd at games this season — if fans are allowed to attend at all — the team said on Tuesday.

The six-time Super Bowl winners said that the reduced seating plan at the 65,878 capacity stadium was pending state and local approval, as they acknowledged “game days will look different this year.”

“Ticketed parties will be asked to maintain physical distancing of at least six feet from other parties, tickets will be arranged in blocks of 10 seats or less, and the first eight rows of stadium seats will not be used,” the Patriots said in a statement.

“Additionally, face coverings will be required at all times inside the stadium.”

The league is also implementing its own measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19, including bans on post-game handshakes and jersey swaps, while players will not be allowed to interact with fans.