The NFL announced a plan to have 22,000 fans at the upcoming Super Bowl scheduled for Feb. 7 at Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Of that number, the league will give 7,500 of them to health care workers.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell informed a group of that decision personally via video call recently. The league shared this video on Friday when making the announcement:
The NFL is inviting 7,500 vaccinated health care workers to attend Super Bowl LV to thank and honor them for their continued extraordinary service during the pandemic.
To celebrate, @nflcommish surprised Sarasota Memorial Hospital health care workers with tickets to #SBLV. pic.twitter.com/iurMY0BvMM
— NFL (@NFL) January 22, 2021
All attending the game will be required to wear a mask as part of safety protocol regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Seating will be distanced and sold in pods of two, four, or six seats.
Of the health care workers, they will all already be among those who received the COVID-19 vaccine by Jan. 24. A bulk of them will be from the Tampa area, but each NFL team will have the chance to pick four from their region to send to the game.
This upcoming weekend will feature Championship Sunday in the NFL as the Bills visit the Chiefs for a spot in the Super Bowl on the AFC side of things and the Bucs will travel to the Packers for the same via the NFC. The latter will kickoff at 3:05 p.m. with the second game slated for 6:40 p.m.
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