Miami Dolphins sets 13,000 capacity limit for NFL opener

Credit: USA TODAY Network/SIPA USA/PA Images

Hard Rock Stadium has announced that there will be a 13,000 limited capacity for the Miami Dolphins NFL season opener against the Buffalo Bills on September 20.

According to Miami Dolphins, the side has conducted a ‘thorough review starting in late March’ with the intent to ‘provide minimal contact for guests’. In order to abide by various rules and regulations the stadium has implemented a variety of guidelines which includes staggered gate entry and a cashless environment. 

Miami Dolphins Vice Chairman and CEO Tom Garfinkel stated. “When we started the process back in March of exploring what a socially-distanced stadium could look like, we made the health and safety of everyone the first priority; knowing that if we felt that we couldn’t make it safe, we simply wouldn’t have fans.

“We’re happy that our elected officials recognise the attention to detail and diligence that we’ve put into creating a safe environment and that they made the decision to move forward with a 13,000-capacity stadium at this time.”

The stadium, which has a capacity of over 65,000, will also implement social distance seat clusters and walk through metal detectors with touch-less security screening in an attempt to limit all unnecessary contact.

Furthermore Hard Rock Stadium has been the first arena to be awarded with a GBAC (Global Bio-risk Advisory Council) Star certification, a division of ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association.

All fans entering the stadium will be required to wear a mask at all times, apart from when actively eating or drinking, with no smoking permitted inside the stadium or helixes. Additionally the stadium has changed its manual toilets and faucets to contactless.

The Miami Dolphins are the first NFL side to officially announce that they will hold games with fans in attendance with most franchises either ruling out the possibility of crowds right now or yet to comment on future plans. The only other team’s seemingly willing to consider the option are the Jacksonville Jaguars and Kansas City Chiefs, however, nothing as of yet has been confirmed

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