The list of NFL teams capping or outright cutting fan attendance for 2020 home games is growing by the day. But don’t expect the Dallas Cowboys to put themselves on that list anytime soon. At least, not if team owner Jerry Jones has anything to say about it.
As usual, Jones had plenty to say- about a wide range of topics- during Wednesday’s press conference to open training camp. Clearly, though, one of his main points of emphasis for the reporters assembled via videochat was attendance at AT&T Stadium for the club’s eight upcoming home games.
“The Dallas Cowboys plan on playing all of our football games,” Jones stressed, “and we plan on playing them in front of our fans.”
He said it twice. In the first nine minutes of the press conference. Just so there would be no misunderstanding.
But beyond vowing that there would be fans in the stands, Jones declined to go any further by giving a number or percentage.
“I don’t have an expectation,” Jones said. “As you know, you’re dealing with a little bit of a moving target, and I’m not trying to diminish the moving target aspect of it. But we’re very unique in that we have the suite capacities that we have out there that give us some extra control.”
The NFL has already ordered that, at any stadiums that are open this season, the bottom several rows of seats be tarped off to keep players, coaches, and sideline personnel safely distanced from fans. For AT&T Stadium in Arlington, that mandate almost assuredly includes the field-level suites.
Just this week, the New Orleans Saints became the latest team to announce attendance changes, saying their season opener will be played before an empty Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The team also calls in-person attendance during their next home game in Week 3 “unlikely,” and won’t even commit to allowing fans in for their Week 5 contest.
The Washington Football Team recently declared that there will be no fans at FedEx Field at any point during the 2020 campaign. The Raiders have also closed their new stadium to the public for its inaugural season. The Packers won’t have live fans for at least its first two home games. The Jets and Giants won’t host fans until further notice. Eight other clubs so far are already publicly expecting their stadiums to be at a greatly-reduced capacity; others will surely follow.
But Jones spoke in glowing terms of the building jokingly called JerryWorld, claiming that the structure’s unique architecture will actually help allow for more Cowboys fans on gameday.
“We opened that stadium,” Jones said of AT&T, which made its debut in 2009 as Cowboys Stadium, “and it was pointed out that if you didn’t open the doors at the right time and had the roof open in a certain way, that you had an air current through there that is pretty impressive, if you will. A serious, serious air current … quite a naturally-built airflow that can be very positive relative to protecting and be safe for our fans. That’s not all of it, but when we finish showing our fans what and how and what we can do to make it safe to come to the ballgames, I’m really proud that we’ve got that stadium to work with.”
The Cowboys’ home can indeed transform itself away from a completely-enclosed building, and that added ventilation may, in fact, help comfort fans who are worried about breathing recirculated air for three hours on a Sunday. The league will still require all fans at NFL stadiums to wear face coverings.
But given the stadium’s sheer size, Jones believes it will also be possible for a large number of fans to socially distance quite easily within its walls.
“We have, also, a stadium that has three million square feet in it,” Jones reminded reporters. “And the fans going in the southwest side do not get near the ones going in the northwest side. As a matter of fact, that goes on like that all the way up until a very reasonable close. When you look at a number in the stadium, don’t think that number’s getting together out there. They’re not. It’ll be in pods of possibly five, ten, fifteen different people.”
Jones alluded to a more official attendance policy being issued by the team in the coming days. But he promises that the team will follow federal, state, and local guidelines in determining how many fans will be permitted to see the Cowboys play in person in 2020.
Whatever the number, Jones is optimistic that the Cowboys fans who show will be treated to a great product on the field and a safe environment inside the stadium. But he also acknowledged that some of the responsibility for keeping everyone healthy will fall on the Cowboys faithful.
“We’ll adhere to all protocols,” Jones announced. “And we will adapt them to the uniqueness of our stadium. That’s within the protocol. We have a real unique situation, and I think that we’re going to be able to really have a great experience. I think that our safety precautions that we’re doing won’t be unfamiliar to a lot of people when we look at the general protocol of the country or we look at how you get together numbers of people. We will have our challenges. The people that will be there will be there at their own volition, just as the players that are on this field out here for the Cowboys are here because they have chosen to be here. Our fans will be in the stadium because they have chosen to be there. I’m completely confident that if I’ve ever seen a general population have had information of where the issues are, where the vulnerabilities are, how to conduct yourself, the ‘do-right rule’ relative to the person with you and beside you that you do know or don’t know, I’m confident that we’ve got a very educated situation and that our fans can come and have a safe experience at our stadium.”
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