Molly Brownstein Provides a Fan’s Perspective of the NFL’s COVID-19 Season
No matter how you look at it, the current NFL season is quite unlike any other in the league’s history as fans (as well as owners and players) try to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic while still enjoying their favorite game. For Philadelphia Eagles superfans like local social media professional Molly Brownstein of Philadelphia, it has been quite a surreal ride so far.
One of the biggest challenges, of course, is that most fans around the country have had to learn to enjoy the action solely from their own living room couch rather than be at the games in person to enjoy the live roar of the crowd. That wasn’t the case for the entire NFL season in Pennsylvania, as a limited number of Eagles fans were allowed to occupy seats in the stadium for a few games while now using cardboard cutouts in place of real fans.
Things were going fairly well until the city of Philadelphia increased the restrictions on gatherings due to a spike in COVID-19 cases in November, meaning that no fans are allowed to watch the action in person at Lincoln Financial Field for the foreseeable future. This was obviously a bit of a downer to those who enjoy the energy and camaraderie of the live version.
Eagles Home Game Ticket Sales Suspended
One of the ways the Eagles accommodated season ticket holders was by creating seating “pods,” explains Molly Brownstein. Those with season tickets were given the option early on whether they wanted to go ahead or not and those who did decide they wanted to see games in person could buy into pods for up to six people that were safely physically distanced from the next pod. Those ticket holders who wanted to opt out could do so without any penalties, picking up where they left off in 2021. In addition, all teams were actually mandated to provide a refund option to ticket holders if they weren’t able to attend due to restrictions.
That was on top of other measures that attending fans had to follow (which the NFL as a league adopted), including wearing masks. Philadelphia’s club turned to using cashless transactions for prepackaged concession stand purchases, and requiring fans go directly back to their assigned seats after collecting their food and drinks.
There was supposed to be a ticket sale for the remaining Philadelphia Eagles games in mid-November, but it was cancelled. Since the Eagles are currently battling for a play-off position (although the team will need to win a lot until then), government protocols will determine if fans will be able to watch those games in the home stadium. However, there are some other teams in the league currently allowing fans in subject to local guidelines, so if you’re willing to do a bit of traveling to follow your favorite Philadelphia football team, you might be in luck, notes Molly Brownstein.
NFL Season Moves Ahead
The good news for fans is that the NFL games are still available on television to safely enjoy from the comfort of your own living room, says Molly Brownstein. She says she is happy the league decided to go ahead with play for the benefit of the fans, as well as the players — although there have been some COVID-19 outbreaks among teams.
Despite this, Brownstein is still holding onto the hope that the Eagles can go all the way like in 2018 she’ll be watching every game closely to see who emerges as this season’s champion
Molly Brownstein is a life-long Philly sports fan. When she is not cheering on her Eagles or Flyers, Molly works with local small businesses to help them manage their social media presence. She currently runs social media for a local Philadelphia business called Nuts to You, a popular gourmet chocolate and candy shop with locations all over the city.
