Mayor LaToya Cantrell has denied Saints' requests for fans as COVID restrictions remain tightGETTY IMAGES
A select few fans "might be able to attend" Sunday's Panthers-Saints game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, as Saints officials met with New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, medical professionals at Ochsner Health and Cantrell's medical advisors to "discuss a phased approach to get fans back at Saints games," according to Amie Just of the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE. A source confirmed that the game will take place at the Superdome on Sunday, despite the Saints "engaging in talks with LSU last week to potentially use Tiger Stadium so fans can attend." Saints Senior VP/Communications Greg Bensel last week said that the team "wants to play its games in New Orleans but began discussions with LSU officials because 'there has been no indication from the city when, or if' fans will be allowed to attend games at the Dome." Bensel indicated that the Saints "remained in conversation with LSU regarding the Panthers' game at least until Friday" (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 10/20).
TIMING TROUBLES: ESPN.com's Mike Triplett noted although the Saints and the NFL have "talked with officials in Baton Rouge about the idea of moving games to Tiger Stadium," that "would require ample preparation time." The "earliest it could happen is November -- and likely not until Week 11" against the Falcons on Nov. 22. The Saints' next scheduled home game after this week is Week 10, on Nov. 15 against the 49ers. But LSU is hosting Alabama the day before, and it "would be difficult to host both games in Tiger Stadium on back-to-back days." The Saints "would like a limited number of fans to be allowed in the Superdome." But so far, Cantrell has "denied their requests while the coronavirus restrictions on large gatherings remain tighter in New Orleans than the rest of the state." Meanwhile, Saints coach Sean Payton has "embraced the idea of moving games to Baton Rouge if that's what it takes to get a home crowd" (ESPN.com, 10/19).
NUMBERS GAME: In New Orleans, Just & Karlin in a front-page piece note in August, before the NFL season began, the Saints "made a pitch" to Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards for a "bolder idea: 35% capacity -- a plan that would put almost 24,000 fans in the stadium for games." The presentation was "bolstered with quotes from Ochsner Health System officials who voiced their support for the idea." The plan "featured a detailed 'seating manifest methodology' that showed how patrons would be spaced from several angles." In all, 23,875 people "would have been allowed in the stadium under the proposal, to which Edwards did not agree." In the Saints’ proposal for 35% capacity, 6-foot social distancing "wasn’t quite possible on the aisles," as seats on either side of the aisles are "at most 5.7 feet apart -- or less depending on the section." Only three areas of the stadium under the 35% plan were "budgeted for more than 50% of normal occupancy." The Louisiana Stadium & Exposition District "modeled several contingency plans for attendance in the spring and summer, looking at scenarios between 17% and 50% of the Superdome’s normal capacity." Cantrell in early September said that a 25% plan, the details of which "had not been released publicly at the time, 'looks great as far as when we’re ready for that, but we’re not there now.'" At the time, she also suggested that her sign-off "would likely hinge on whether the state was willing to give New Orleans more of the federal money set aside for local governments dealing with the coronavirus pandemic" (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 10/20).
WHAT ABOUT MARDI GRAS? In New Orleans, Will Sutton wrote, "Let’s not have fans at New Orleans Saints home games in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome so we can keep ourselves safe, reduce the COVID-19 community spread, reduce the risk of sickness and death -- and thus be able to plan for the best robust Mardi Gras season possible." More Sutton: "I know we don’t like thinking about a Saints season without fans, but think about a Mardi Gras without revelers." There is "no one" who "wants to see Mardi Gras canceled" (NOLA.com, 10/19).
