The NFL is allowing teams to decide whether or not they'll allow fans to attend games in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, and Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott isn't so happy about it.
The Miami Dolphins announced Monday that they'll be allowing 13,000 fans to attend their home opener against the Bills during Week 2 despite the surging number of coronavirus cases in Florida.
For our home opener against the Bills at @HardRockStadium we will have a maximum of 13,000 fans. All fans will be required to wear a mask.
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) August 24, 2020
Read More: https://t.co/pkfOJozy8q pic.twitter.com/Mp3MVA7vnP
At this time, the Bills won't be hosting any fans at their home opener, and the discrepancy is causing McDermott to reveal his true feelings about fans attending games in 2020.
#Bills coach Sean McDermott, on news the #Dolphins plan to have fans for their Week 2 game vs. #Bills and the fact some stadiums will have fans and some won't. "I think it's ridiculous that there's (an uneven) playing field that's like that" when it comes to crowd support.
— Vic Carucci (@viccarucci) August 24, 2020
McDermott has often been outspoken about teams getting advantages during games. We've seen McDermott express those feelings over and over again with injury reports and other aspects of game-planning.
While fans shouldn't necessarily be attending football games amid the coronavirus pandemic, Hard Rock Stadium actually has made some applaudable upgrades to keep fans safe.
Throughout the stadium, the Dolphins have placed social-distancing markers wherever lines may form. All fans also will have the option to order food through the Dolphins app and receive text message notifications when their order is ready to be picked up.
That's not all, though. The Dolphins have sectioned off many seats in their stadium, placing seats in clusters to allow for social distancing. People who will attend games in a suite will have prepackaged food, mobile control of suite televisions and automatic glove dispensers.
All bathrooms in the stadium have been upgraded to include contactless sinks and toilets and at the end of games, ushers will release individual rows to help ensure social distancing.
Quite frankly, if teams want to have fans in 2020, they should follow in the footsteps of the Dolphins. In order for it to be possible for fans to attend games in all states, though, the rules must be followed, and that includes wearing a mask
We've already seen fans of the Kansas City Chiefs disregard mask mandates at Arrowhead Stadium, so fans not attending games probably is for the best.
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