The San Francisco 49ers on Wednesday offered an update on attendance for the 2020 season. In an email the team issued to season ticket holders, the club said no final decisions have been made on either full or limited capacity at Levi’s Stadium. They’re offering two options for season ticket holders during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Via the email distributed to season ticket holders:
To ensure the health and safety of our season ticket members, players, coaches, staff and the greater community and to comply with state and local restrictions, we may not be able to host fans in a full or limited capacity this season. Given this uncertainty, season ticket members will have two options for payments made for the upcoming season: (1) credit your 2020 payments to the 2021 season; or (2) request a refund. In the event we have limited capacity at Levi’s® Stadium this season, tickets will be made available on a game-by-game basis at the season ticket rate. Members electing to credit 2020 payments to the 2021 season will receive preferred access to available tickets.
Fans won’t need to make a decision for another couple weeks per the email.
This is similar to options employed by the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens. Even if the league pushes for stadiums to open, teams will be forced to comply by local regulations. The Ravens announced the 71,000-seat M&T Bank Stadium would be limited to fewer than 14,000 people. The 49ers did not announce a similar number for limited capacity.
Santa Clara County where Levi’s Stadium is located has not yet begun re-opening while they try to limit the spread of COVID-19. The NFL has allowed for a limited re-opening of team facilities, but the 49ers haven’t been able to take part with their building forced to stay closed per local rules.
That’ll be the first step for the 49ers, who’re set to open training camp July 28 with their regular season slated to begin Sept. 13. It’s hard to envision them having fans in the stands for the regular season given the current state of the virus in California. The league is still pushing for it though, and the 49ers are keeping their options open in the event that they’re given the okay to put fans in the Levi’s Stadium seats during the 2020 season.