No Fans Likely for Early Season Viking Home Games
Zeke Warren-Weigmann
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Any Minnesota Vikings fan hoping to break up the monotony of quarantine with a roaring US Bank Stadium crowd is all out of luck, at least for the beginning of the NFL season. Head coach Mike Zimmer all but confirmed that the team will be playing in front of empty bleachers to start the year.
Zimmer was quoted by Sam Ekstrom of Zone Coverage Friday the 21st, saying that “it looks like we won’t have fans early, which really stinks.” Zimmer has additionally lamented that it will be much more difficult to create a home-field environment without fans in the building.
Under current Minnesota regulations,as the team would only be able to allow in around 250 fans, a number that would not be enough to justify opening up the building. The team reportedly applied for an exception that would grant them permission to allow in as many as 12,000 fans, but as of now no waiver has been granted. While no guidelines on the matter have been put out by the team at press time, it is expected that an official announcement will be made by early next week at the latest.
If they follow a similar model of teams like the Denver Broncos and New York Giants who have already announced that there will be no fans at home games for the beginning of the season, the Vikings will likely not play in front of supporters until mid October, meaning that there will be no crowd during the first three home games.
That all but confirms that we as fans can look forward to an empty US Bank stadium for the September 13th game against the Packers, the September 27th game against the Titans, and the October 18th game against the Falcons.
So much for a home field advantage.