By ANTHONY PICINICH
New York sports fans received good news on when Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that large arenas were allowed to reopen starting Feb 23. All arenas with a seating capacity of 10,000 people or more are allowed to have 10 percent capacity at events.
NY sports stadiums, arenas to open at 10 percent capacity https://t.co/StHUR8bZML
— Daniel Kaplan (@KaplanSportsBiz) February 10, 2021
Arenas’ Reopening Plans
This announcement came amid declining numbers of Covid-19 cases numbers declining in New York. As of Feb. 10, a seven day average of 8,588 new cases was the lowest since Dec 5. Feb 15 also marked the first time in 2021 that the daily new cases in New York number fell below 7,000.
Teams in both the National Hockey League and National Basketball Association were playing their games in home arenas. Both leagues announced that arenas could have fans based on their state’s guidelines.
With the arenas’ reopening, the Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, and New York Rangers have all announced plans to welcome fans for the first time this season with strict guidelines in place to protect the health of attending fans and players. One of the biggest protocols is fans having to provide a negative PCR test within 72 hours of the event.
While safety is the biggest issue among fans, some question whether it is worth going through the necessary procedures just to go to a sporting event.
“I feel as if it’s a lot to ask for fans to do with testing and having all paperwork ready,” said Vinny DellaVolla, 21, a lifelong Rangers’ and Knicks’ fan, “I feel as if a simple question health test would be better.”
DellaVolla realizes that these fans, mostly season ticket holders, will go through the necessary steps to attend sporting events.
“People will still go regardless of the rules and regulations,” says DellaVolla, “Madison Square Garden will be sold out at 10% capacity.”
Statement from the New York Knicks pic.twitter.com/SFh1irAExR
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 10, 2021
While DellaVolla’s sentiment is shared by other fans, there are some who would be fine with attending a sporting event under the guidelines laid out.
“Personally, I’d be okay with going,” said Knicks’ fan Cameron Dalgleish, 22, “I think 10 percent capacity is a reasonable number for everyone to spread out and follow the guidelines while still being able to enjoy the games in person.”
Even with fan willingness, there are other problems that go outside of Covid-19 guidelines. “The tickets will be expensive and people may very well be uncomfortable with going into an arena with hundreds of others,” said Dalgleish, “I think it’s very possible the arenas will have a problem reaching capacity.”
Player safety also should be at the forefront when it comes to playing games in front of fans, such as how close the fans are to the playing surface or bench area. “For basketball, I could see there being some concern especially if courtside seats are available,” said Dalgleish.
Player and Fan Safety
Both Madison Square Garden and the Barclays Center have announced specific guidelines for fans to follow when returning for hockey and basketball games. The KeyBank Arena in Buffalo and Nassau Coliseum in Long Island are expected to announce their plans for fans in the coming weeks.
The National Hockey League recently faced a Covid-19 outbreak that sidelined multiple teams causing them to postpone games. One of these teams affected by the outbreak was the Buffalo Sabres who saw no game action for over two weeks due to multiple positive tests within the organization.
Having reasonable distance between fans and players is paramount to the success of New York arenas reopening. A transmission of Covid-19 between a fan and player would cause massive outcries from both groups and this reopening plan would be seen as a catastrophe.
All New York area teams have announced that season ticket holders will have the first opportunity at purchasing tickets when they are available.
I like the way you introduced the story because it tells the reader exactly what the piece will be about. Your use of links for the stadium guidelines was good and I like the fact that you found 2 relevant tweets to put in. Your subheadings are good and overall I like the reporting of the story.
I thought you did a great job incorporating links to each arena’s specific guidelines as well as relevant media in the tweets you chose. I also liked how you used a variety of voices.