The NFL wants to start their season on time. This despite ongoing issues with the coronavirus pandemic. Something that has continued to sweep through the country at a prodigious rate. So much so that sports leagues are nervous about holding games that could put their players at risk. Not to mention the idea of having fans in stadiums. Something the Chicago Bears aren’t even certain about.
There is no question that plenty of Bears faithful want to see their team in action live. That isn’t going to change. The question is what will it take to make that happen? The general agreement is stadiums aren’t likely to allow more than 25% total capacity during games. Basically around 15,000 people by Soldier Field standards. So just getting tickets for the games will be an all-out war.
Yet that might be just the start of the headaches. According to Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic, the NFL is moving towards the idea of having fans fill out paperwork before being allowed entry to the buildings.
“The NFL is considering requiring fans attending games this season to sign liability waivers shielding the teams from COVID-19 lawsuits, sources said. The waiver proposal is likely to be forwarded to clubs by the middle of next week as part of a broad range of league recommended best practices for re-opening stadiums amid the coronavirus pandemic.”
That could just be the beginning for Chicago Bears fans
So in addition to paying lots of money to get into games, people will have to take an additional risk by waiving their rights to legal recourse if they contract the virus during a game. Even if it’s due to negligence on the part of stadium personnel or other employees of the team. While understandable from the team’s standpoint, it is just more risks the fans have to take on in order to watch their favorite team play a game.
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Make no mistake. Odds are plenty of people will be more than willing to take those odds. The problem is this waiver idea could just be the start of things. Will teams try to also include some form of screening process? Will fans even be allowed to move about the stadium once inside? It is all one big, confusing mess. The Bears have just a few months left to figure it out.