(Tom Hauck/Getty Images)
By Sam Britt
The NFL is considering allowing vaccinated health care workers to attend Super Bowl LV in Tampa, Fla., according to ABC News 10.
In a letter to the President of the Tampa Super Bowl Host Committee Rob Higgins, Goodell said the NFL is in the midst of strategizing a way to invite health care workers to the Super Bowl safely with guidance from health officials.
“I wanted to let you know that during our League Meeting today we plan to discuss Super Bowl LV, including an exciting idea to honor and thank health care workers for their extraordinary service during the pandemic,” Goodell wrote in the letter. “We will also use this as an opportunity to promote the importance of vaccination and appropriate health practices, including wearing masks in public settings.”
Goodell has held firm to the idea that there will be fans in attendance at Super Bowl LV, however, he has never committed to an exact number. In September, Gov. Ron DeSantis expressed his desire to have as many fans as possible at the Super Bowl.
“We’re going to be able to host the Super Bowl in February. We expect to do a full Super Bowl. We’re going to show that we’re going to be able to do that,” DeSantis adamantly said, according to NBC 8.
In December, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, gave his prediction on when he thinks it will be possible for stadiums to be full again.
"So it probably will be well into the end of the summer before you can really feel comfortable [with full sports stadiums]–if a lot of people get vaccinated,” Fauci told Yahoo! Sports. “I don't think we're going to be that normal in July. I think it probably would be by the end of the summer."
Fauci said he thinks it is possible for NFL games to be at full capacity next season depending on the number of people to take the COVID-19 vaccine.