Green Bay Packers won’t allow fans at camp or preseason home games

The Packers won’t have fans at camp or preseason home games.

As the NFL season inches closer and closer, teams are starting to make seating plans in accordance with national COVID-19 guidelines. The Packers have announced that they won’t allow fans at training camp or preseason games this summer.

“The tremendous support of cheering fans at Lambeau Field motivates all of us in the Packers organization,” Packers president Mark Murphy said in a statement. “But after consulting with local health officials and reviewing League and CDC guidelines, we felt we needed to make this difficult decision. We will miss seeing so many of our fans, particularly the young ones, during this exciting time of year. We will continue to work on the protocols and logistics in the hope that we can welcome fans back to Lambeau Field for the regular season without jeopardizing the health of our players, team personnel and fans.”

“We ask our fans to help us in this effort by wearing masks and staying six feet away from non-family members when out in the community in the coming weeks.”

This is understandable but still disappointing for fans as well as players. One of the best traditions at Packers camp is players riding kids bicycles down the DreamDrive to practice, which was first instituted under legendary coach Vince Lombardi.

There is still no formal plan from the NFL on what the 2020 season will look like. It should be coming shortly, as training camps are set to begin July 28. Teams will sufficient time to implement protocols that the NFL’s plan will call for.

What will this NFL season look like?

The preseason was already truncated so the Packers there were already fewer opportunities for fans to see the Packers in Lambeau Field this preseason.

Earlier this offseason, the Ravens announced that if the 2020 season takes place, capacity will be limited to 14,000, for all regular-season home games. 14,000 fans would be just under 20% of the stadium’s full capacity. The Patriots announced a similar plan on Tuesday.

It’s hard to imagine the Packers playing in front of empty seats at Lambeau Field, but that is just the world we are living in. It looks like Lambeau leaps will be on hold for quite a while.

The Packers are set to kick off their regular season on Sept. 13 at the U.S. Bank Stadium against the Vikings. They will return home for Week 2 to play the Lions in Green Bay.