Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that, despite Cayuga County, Cleveland issuing a stay-at-home order for the next month, the Browns will still host 12,000 fans for Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
A Browns spokesperson told Cabot that the team “will continue to monitor the circumstances and remain flexible,” but “plan to continue to safely host a limited number of fans.” Apparently, the important distinction here is that the county has issued an “advisory” and not a “mandate,” meaning that the Browns are their fans can choose to ignore the advisory if they wish.
Whether or not ignoring such an advisory at a time when COVID-19 cases are spiking around the country is another question.
Normally, a home team having fans in the stands gives said team a built-in advantage due to crowd noise. But as we have seen this season, such a limited number of fans does not have much of an impact.
Earlier this week, the Philadelphia Eagles announced that they would not be hosting fans at Lincoln Financial Field for the remainder of the 2020 season because of new outdoor restrictions announced by the City of Philadelphia:
“On October 13, the Eagles finalized plans that led to a limited capacity of fans returning to Lincoln Financial Field under the guidelines set forth by the National Football League and public health experts, and with the approval of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia. The stadium occupancy was limited to 7,500 total people – including players, coaches, staff, and media – for the games against the Ravens, Giants, and Cowboys.
As a result of Monday’s announcement, the Eagles will revert back to the setup for the two September home games. The Eagles have three remaining home games in the 2020 regular season, starting with a Monday night showdown against Seattle on November 30. The team will continue to work with the City of Philadelphia and notify fans of any changes in the coming weeks.”
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Mike Maher is the editor and publisher of The Birds Blitz. Follow him on Twitter @mikeMaher and @TheBirdsBlitz and check out his archive for all of his latest stories about the Eagles and the NFL.
