49ers president hopes vaccines will allow fans to return to NFL games

Ahead of the Super Bowl LV matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell offered all league stadiums as COVID-19 vaccination sites in a letter sent to President Joe Biden. Among the clubs that have already made their facilities available are the San Francisco 49ers, who collaborated with Santa Clara County to create the largest vaccination site in California.

49ers president Al Guido told NFL Network's "NFL Now" on Friday that he believes the team owed this service to football fans and the community.

"We're a part of the fabric of our community," Guido explained. "I always say we're more than what we do on Thursdays, Sundays and Mondays. We live here. We shop here. We send our kids to school here. So frankly, it's incumbent upon us to give back to the community and to make sure that we're using our facilities to make sure that people are healthy and safe moving forward." 

Guido added: 

"The first step to getting back to some normalcy is getting shots in some people's arms, and if we the San Francisco 49ers or Levi's Stadium can support those efforts, then great. I hope we can do more as the months go on. We can open up more parts of our building, and that supply is coming to us in a faster way so we can get shots in people's arms quicker. ...

"Our goal now is let's get some shots in people's arms, let's make sure they stay safe. Let's save lives. Not just in this county but all over the country. So that we can get people back in Levi's Stadium to watch the San Francisco 49ers play on our field. That is the goal for all of us every single day right now."

When asked during a pre-Super Bowl press conference, Goodell refused to say if fans will have to prove they're vaccinated to attend future events, such as the 2021 NFL Draft set to occur in downtown Cleveland, Ohio from April 29-May 1. As of Nov. 12, Ticketmaster said it won't require users to show they're vaccinated to purchase tickets through the service. 

"Ticketmaster does not have the power to set policies around safety/entry requirements, which would include vaccines and/or testing protocols," reads a statement shared on the company's website. "That would always be up to the discretion of the event organizer, based on their preferences and local health guidelines."