Kansas City Chiefs fans set the world record for loudest outdoor stadium against the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football in 2014. The Arrowhead Stadium crowd was recorded at 142.2 decibels during that game, setting the world record. Chiefs fans provide the team with a notable home-field advantage, but one of the ideas floated due to the COVID-19 pandemic could have the Chiefs Kingdom sidelined in 2020.
The conversation surrounding fan-less games has evolved over the past few weeks. Broadcaster Joe Buck said FOX will use fake crowd noise and digital fans. Forbes claims that the NFL will lose $5.5 billion in revenue if the league is forced to play without fans in stadiums. What is becoming abundantly clear is that there still exists a possibility that the NFL won’t be able to have fans attending games in 2020 due to the coronavirus.
During Andy Reid’s media availability on Friday, he was asked multiple times about the potential of the Chiefs playing the 2020 season without fans in Arrowhead Stadium.
“First of all, we love our fans,” Reid said. “They are the loudest in the world. It’s ridiculous how loud it gets for our opponents. But on the other hand, we’ll still go play and it’ll be kind of that way. There will probably be a lot more talk from the players that you can here. You know, those guys get pretty creative out there in their conversations. But the fans, we’ll miss them if that’s where it goes, but we’ll still be able to function.”
It sounds like Reid is prepared for whatever possibilities awaits his team. While the fans do give the Chiefs an incredible advantage over opponents, and no one wants to play without them, they’re going to be ready to go no matter what.
Reid was also specifically asked about some comments made by Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald just yesterday. Donald doesn’t understand how playing without fans could be possible for NFL teams.
“You need fans to play a game,” Donald said. “I don’t see how you could play a game without fans. The fans are what pick you up. The fans make the game exciting. Without fans, I don’t see how it could be possible. It’s not exciting. I don’t think it would be fun.”
Reid understood exactly where Donald was coming from.
“As far as the fans go, I understand what Aaron is saying” Reid said. “It just doesn’t make sense, it just doesn’t feel like it makes sense to be without fans. But it’s also part of what we all would have to deal with if that’s the situation that it comes to. My hope is that we can get everybody back out there and that we can have stadiums full of people and we can go and everybody can stay safe. That’s probably the most important thing — well it is the most important thing as we go forward. . .”
Each team will be faced with the same challenges if the NFL is forced to play without fans in stadiums during the 2020 season. It’ll hurt teams from a revenue standpoint and it’ll make for some awkwardness when players take the field. Reid, however, remains hopeful that fans will be able to grace the stands at Arrowhead Stadium and across the NFL. At the end of the day, the most important thing is to keep everyone safe and healthy. If there’s a way for the NFL to keep fans healthy and have them in stadiums, you can rest assured it’ll happen.
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