As of now, the National Football League (NFL) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) are giving their teams the choice of whether they will permit fans at their games this season. It’s the year 2020, the world is in a pandemic and we have the technology to watch any sporting event from the comfort of our homes. Fans should not be allowed at games until the world is in a better state. In order to eliminate the possibility of stadiums becoming hotspots for coronavirus — leading to leagues canceling their seasons — it is best that the fans agree to help contain the spread of COVID-19 by staying home and watching the games on television.
One of the biggest sports leagues in the U.S., the NFL has no firm rules regarding the attendance of fans. As of now, the NFL has seven of the 32 franchises allowing fans. NCAA Division I football has 10 conferences, four of which have canceled their football seasons. The other six conferences plan to play their games, with some schools allowing fans at their games. In order for there to be a safe and fair season, there needs to be some consistency.
College football has already been affected, and this is before games even started. In Division I of NCAA Football, there is a “Power 5,” which refer to these conferences: The Southeastern Conference, the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big Ten, the Big 12 and the Pacific-12. The Big Ten and Pacific-12 have already canceled their seasons, but there are also five more conferences that are the “Group of 5.” The Group of 5 consists of the American Athletic Conference, the Mid-American Conference (MAC), the Mountain West Conference (MWC), the Sun Belt and Conference-USA. Of the Group of Five, the MWC and MAC have canceled their seasons. Of these six conferences, 30 schools have announced that fans will be allowed at their Week 1 games.
The National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), Major League Soccer (MLS) and the National Hockey League (NHL) have all agreed to play their seasons without fans in attendance, so why can’t the NFL or NCAA do the same? There is no consistency in the sport of football pertaining to this issue. One game will have fans, but the next won’t. The NCAA and the NFL need to come out and either create a consensus number of fans to allow at their events or eliminate fans at events this season altogether. However, the better option would be no fans at all to preserve any chance of the seasons being canceled.
