Sports should require fans to be vaccinated
The Raiders have always prided themselves on being a maverick franchise, so maybe it wasn’t too surprising that they were the first NFL team to take such a bold — yet obvious — step.
Now every other sports team — both college and pro — should follow the lead of the Silver & Black and require spectators to get vaccinated.
Amid a surge of coronavirus cases as the highly contagious delta variant spreads across the United States, Las Vegas’ football team announced this week that all fans must show proof of a jab to attend games.
“Health and safety has always been our number one priority,” Raiders owner Mark Davis said. “This policy ensures that we will be able to operate at full capacity without masks for fully vaccinated fans for the entire season.”
The idea of having a packed stadium for the entire season seems out of touch with reality, given that each day brings another six-figure round of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. And while we’re at it, we wish Davis and others weren’t so eager to dump masks, a cheap, relatively low-hassle way to stifle the spread of the virus.
But requiring vaccinations — or at least a negative COVID-19 test — for fans to attend a sporting event is the most logical, effective way to deal with the spike of new cases just weeks before the start of the NFL and college football seasons.
Beyond the Raiders, there are glimmers of hope.
The city of New Orleans enacted new rules last week for indoor arenas and entertainment venues that require anyone attending a Saints game at the Superdome to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of kickoff.
Masks also will be required.
“We are committed to doing everything we can in the current environment to protect your health and safety while at the same time providing the best game day experience in the NFL,” the Saints told their fans. “We understand some will be frustrated, as are we, that we find ourselves in this position.”
Tulane, a private college in the Big Easy, said it will have the same vaccination and testing requirements to attend its home sporting events, even though its football stadium is an outdoor facility.
The Green Wave thus became the first major college football program to make such a move.
Let’s hope others follow their lead.
So, let’s applaud teams such as the Raiders, Saints and Tulane for their individual stances. And let’s keep pushing for leagues and college conferences to impose a universal vaccination mandate for fans to come through the gates.
We need sports to provide the sort of unified — and, hopefully, unifying — approach that might finally get this pandemic under control.