A few months ago, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy joined "Moose and Maggie" on WFAN to announce that the state would allow 15 percent capacity at large outdoor venues, including MetLife Stadium, as we continued to progress toward normalcy during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also indicated that, based on the way vaccinations were being distributed and how effective they seemed to be, he was expecting even better developments in the future.
"Listen, if things go the way I've just suggested in terms of the pandemic, I'll be shocked if we're not at a higher level of capacity for Jets, Giants, Rutgers football, you name it, as we get into the summer and fall," Murphy said in late February. "God knows we need it. The mental health reasons for the participants, for those of us who love sports and watching it... obviously, we need to do it safely and responsibly but I'm confident we'll be in higher numbers assuming we don't go back on this pandemic."
As of now, his confidence looks like it was well founded. Murphy provided an update on the state of the pandemic in New Jersey and how large events will begin to look.
"I think the prospects are pretty good," Murphy said of MetLife Stadium being at full capacity by Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season (via Darryl Slater and Brent Johnson of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com). "If we blow through our objectives (regarding COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and vaccinations), there's a lot higher likelihood the Jets and Giants can sell more tickets."
It will be nice for new additions like Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney, or Zach Wilson and Corey Davis, to experience the true roar of a Giants/Jets crowd at MetLife. Both teams' fan bases have football-related reasons to be excited that may not have been felt in 2020, though the fact that the pandemic may be on its way to subsiding trumps anything that we're looking forward to on the football field.
Elsewhere in the NFC East, the Washington Football Team announced that FedEx Field would return to its full capacity of 82,000 for the 2021 season. Meanwhile, PA Governor Tom Wolf's administration will roll back restrictions starting on Memorial Day, suggesting that Lincoln Financial Field may be able to host some number of fans by the start of the season.
Full capacity could be seen throughout the stadiums of the AFC East — as well as in several other stadiums across the league — and all of the latest reports regarding stadium capacity and regulations have been compiled neatly by David Fucillo of DraftKings Nation.
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