Tag: fan attendance

‘They show up in L.A.’: Cowboys fans expected to invade SoFi as Rams prep for extra noise at home

Sean McVay is readying the Rams to use a silent count at their own stadium as the always-popular Cowboys come to town. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The NFL recognizes only “home” and “away” designations for teams each game. But this Week 5 in Los Angeles, the Cowboys could unofficially be considered the “home-away-from-home” team in their battle with the Rams.

America’s Team always travels well, drawing a healthy contingent of fans wherever they play their road matchups, but this Sunday the home squad is preparing for SoFi Stadium to be taken over by fans wearing the opposing silver and blue.

Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence is used to it by now.

“When the Cowboys make a big play, you can see the momentum shift inside the stadium,” he said on 105.3 The Fan this week. “You can hear our crowd, see our fans. It’s a beautiful thing to see the Dallas fans wherever we go.”

Maybe not so beautiful, though, for the hosts and defending Super Bowl champs.

Rams coach Sean McVay told reporters this week that the team has been pumping in extra noise during their practices to get ready for Cowboys Nation’s significant presence. He even allowed that there may be times when quarterback Matthew Stafford will have to shift to a silent count to counter their volume with the home team’s offense on the field.

The Rams had to use a silent count multiple times in their own building in Week 1 versus Buffalo, as the Bills Mafia also managed to turn SoFi Stadium into a quasi-home game. Said Stafford after that meeting, “It wasn’t something that we haven’t done before.”

Except it’s actually been an ongoing issue for both Los Angeles teams.

Before the NFC conference championship in January, the Rams had to publicly ask fans not to sell their tickets, for fear of 49ers supporters making the trip from San Francisco and taking away home-field advantage. Nevertheless, McVay later said the Rams were “caught off guard” by the opposing fanbase’s attendance.

In addition to having an often-disproportionately large number of followers everywhere, the Cowboys have an extra-loyal presence in the L.A. area thanks to their longstanding summer residency in Oxnard dating back as far as 2001 and in Thousand Oaks from 1963 to 1989. Many Southern California fans also adopted the Cowboys during the years when Los Angeles didn’t have a professional team.

The result? A road trip that always feels a lot like coming home for those wearing the star.

“Cowboys Nation most definitely showed,” receiver CeeDee Lamb told reporters this week as he remembered a visit in Week 2 of 2021. “They show up in L.A. Last year when we played the Chargers, it was kind of the same scenario: definitely felt like a home game in L.A.”

The Cowboys beat the Chargers that day by a 20-17 score. They topped the Chargers there again back in August during a preseason match, 32-18. The only time they’ve played the Rams in SoFi was the first game ever played in the stadium, an eerie season opener that Dallas lost by just three points to the home team in an empty building due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There will most definitely be fans this time around.

Only there may be more rooting for the visiting Cowboys than their hosts.

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NFL permits Jags fans to attend training camp

The NFL said it intends to allow fans to attend training camp on a call with clubs, per Tom Pelissero.

As we progress into the summer and toward the 2021 season, NFL operations will start to get back to normal — at least, closer to it than last season was. A major step in that direction was indicated on Wednesday when, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the NFL told teams on a conference call that it expects fans to be allowed at training camp this summer.

The caveat here is that it will of course depend on the state and local laws regarding outdoor events and crowd size, but if permitted, it seems fans will get the chance to see first-overall pick Trevor Lawrence in action later this summer.

Pelissero added in a follow-up tweet that specific protocols for training camp haven’t been finalized, and things like autographs and fan proximity to players could be subject to change.

No specific schedule has been announced for the Jaguars’ training camp, but Pelissero reported that the league is looking toward a unified start, with players from 29 teams (including Jacksonville) required to report on July 27.

With the NFL pursuing 100% capacity at stadiums this fall, this is yet another sign that football will be back in a much more familiar way this season.

News: Cowboys staff enters bubble, Colombo fired in NY, Emmitt’s salute to service

Also, the Cowboys get two off the Reserve/COVID list, and DeMarcus Lawrence promises a better showing than the team gave a month ago.

COVID-19 dominates the Cowboys’ headlines just days before their Week 11 trip to Minnesota. Just as two players come off the virus watch list, the Dallas coaching staff takes up residence in the posh hotel next to the team’s headquarters. This comes as the league announces that all teams will operate under stricter protocols for the rest of 2020. But those measures only help player and coach safety; now eight fans who have tested positive report that they had recently been in attendance at AT&T Stadium for Cowboys home games. Uncertain times indeed as the league heads into the home stretch of this surreal season.

On the field, DeMarcus Lawrence is promising better things than the team showed even last month. The Cowboys’ injury report shows only two players not participating in the Wednesday session, and Chidobe Awuzie is set to finally make his anticipated return to action. A former Cowboy gets his pink slip from Big Blue, a team icon reaches out to salute a retired serviceman, and there’s still a decent chance that the 2-7 Cowboys could be leading the NFC East in less than two weeks’ time. Here’s the News and Notes.

Maryland Governor says Washington can allow FedEx Field to reach 10% fan capacity

The Governor of Maryland said on Friday that they are taking steps to allow fans to be in attendance at Washington and Baltimore games.

The Governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan, announced on Friday that the state was taking steps to allow sporting events to safely allow fans back in the stands to watch games, which would mean that there is a path forward for both the Washington Football Team and Baltimore Ravens to start filling the seats on Sundays.

As of now, neither Washington nor the Ravens have allowed fans yet, outside of family members for players and coaches.

Governor Hogan said that fan attendance would be limited at 10% of the stadium’s capacity.

We pondered earlier this week what it would take for Washington to start opening up FedEx Field to outside fans, and with Maryland being on the lower end of the spectrum when it comes to risk of COVID-cases, with just 67-per-10,000, it seems reasonable to expect that we might see the ticket booths open up sooner rather than later.

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Report: Washington to allow family members for players, coaches at FedEx Field for games

Washington will reportedly allow family members of players, coaches, and employees to attend the game vs. Los Angeles this weekend.

While the majority of fans will still not be permitted to watch the Washington Football Team to FedEx Field this season to watch the team play in person, some restrictions are being lifted, and family members for team players, coaches, and employees will be allowed at the stadium this week when the Los Angeles Rams come to town.

The report comes from NBC Sports Washington’s JP Finlay, who says that everyone entering the stadium will be required to wear a mask and follow all safety guidelines that have been put into place through coordination with the CDC.

For many, especially rookies, this will be the first time that they get to see the players in person play in the NFL, though some families traveled to Cleveland to watch Washington take on the Browns earlier this season.

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Wisconsin announces plan for attendance at football games this fall

The Wisconsin Badgers will kick off their 2020 football season on October 24 against the Illinois Fighting Illini with at least some…

The Wisconsin Badgers will kick off their 2020 football season on October 24 against the Illinois Fighting Illini with at least some fans in attendance.

The fans, though, won’t be the student section we’re used to and 80,000 people packed into the bleachers. As reported by the Wisconsin State Journal, the program will only allow family members of players and staff members at the games, amounting to approximately 1,000 people watching live.

You can look at SEC and Big 12 schools and their 15,000-plus fans watching the games and notice a significant difference in the product. This decision, though, wasn’t up to the Big Ten schools and states in which they play, but instead was made by the conference after it reinstated the season in mid-September.

Campus planning director Gary Brown mentioned that neighboring parking lots will be closed and city spokesperson Shiva Bidar noted that city bars will be able to open their outside areas but with strict restrictions.

Bidar also mentioned house parties as an issue to monitor when the season begins.

 

There will be no jumping around at Camp Randall this season or an a cappella rendition of Build Me Up Buttercup. The Badgers are playing football, though, after an entire month of it seeming impossible.

23 days until football is back in Madison, Wisconsin

Chiefs HC Andy Reid describes playing in stadiums without fans: ‘It’s weird’

Reid and Tyreek Hill have now both discussed the challenge of playing in a fanless stadium.

After opening the season to a crowd of 15,825 Kansas City faithful, the Chiefs traveled to Los Angeles to a fanless SoFi Stadium in Week 2. Chiefs HC Andy Reid described the experience of playing in that environment in two words when speaking to reporters on Thursday.

“It’s weird,” Reid said.

Reid wasn’t the only one who felt that way either, for Chiefs star WR Tyreek Hill, he felt it was part of the reason for his early-game struggles in Week 2.

“Playing in a stadium with no fans is like the weirdest thing ever,” Hill said following the Week 2 win over the Chargers. “It almost felt like a scrimmage, and it felt weird for me at first. That’s why in the first quarter I didn’t feel like myself. . . . I feed off the crowd that’s what I do.”

Fans are obviously a huge part of the game. Reid’s team has always been one to feed off of the crowd in Kansas City and on the road. For players like Hill, who struggled early, they’ll have to make adjustments. Reid seems to believe that after the initial eeriness faded away, it became a manageable situation.

“I’ve been doing this for a couple of years now and you get out there and you can hear every penny drop there,” Reid said. “Every little sound is magnified. But, when you really get into it, you’re like focused in, you put yourself in a bit of a tunnel. You’re looking at the clocks, whether it’s the play clock or whatever and the field. Once it gets going it’s OK. It’s just that initial — coming out in a brand new stadium with nobody in it — that’s a little different.”

The Chiefs will face the challenge of playing in a fanless stadium once again when they head to M&T Bank Stadium for “Monday Night Football” against the Baltimore Ravens. What would typically be a raucous crowd for one of the biggest NFL games of the year will again be a quieted experience for both teams. Thankfully, Reid, Hill and others on the team have their experience from last week to lean on in terms of how to prepare for the upcoming match.

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