The Baltimore Ravens are reducing capacity at M&T Bank Stadium due to the coronavirus pandemic, altering how tickets will be purchased.
The 2020 regular season is still firmly up in the air while the country deals with a rise in cases of COVID-19. While the NFL is pushing forward as though there will be a season, planning for teams to begin training camp later this month, how the regular season looks is still anyone’s guess. But the Baltimore Ravens are at least making initial plans for reduced capacity at home games at M&T Bank Stadium.
In an email to PSL holders on Wednesday, the Ravens outlined plans to limit attendance to less than 14,000 people per game in order to comply with social distancing restrictions. The current capacity of M&T Bank Stadium is around 71,000, putting the new capacity at about 20% of normal.
“To offer a proper level of safety for fans who want to attend games, a reduction in capacity is necessary,” Ravens president Dick Cass said in a statement. “We are disappointed that this will be a disruption for many ticket buyers, but we have an obligation to our fans and our community to keep M&T Bank Stadium as safe as possible.”
In addition, Baltimore announced season tickets for 2020 would be deferred to the 2021 season, protecting seat locations for all fans while applying funds already paid toward renewal next season or a refund if requested. Fans that have already bought 2020 single-game tickets will be refunded. Once an updated stadium layout has been created, the team will resume individual game ticket sales. PSL owners will receive an advanced opportunity to purchase tickets ahead of the public.
“With over 62,000 season tickets already sold, there is no equitable way to accommodate in a limited stadium capacity all PSL Owners who are interested in maintaining season tickets for 2020,” senior vice president of ticket sales and operations Baker Koppelman said. “Under these unusual circumstances, it’s best to simplify the ticket sales process and allow fans to decide which games they want to attend, while giving our PSL Owners priority in accessing tickets.”
While plans could further change in the future as more information about the virus is known and it’s course changes, Baltimore is making an early attempt to figure out how to get fans into the stadium for home games.
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