Billy Buffalo
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- Mar 16, 2019
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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo just announced the U.S. Open tennis tournament would proceed as scheduled, but without fans.
That makes it the latest event to try to push ahead with no one in the stands because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and casts a bit of an omen over the idea of attendance for the NFL preseason, or early part of the regular season.
The U.S. Open will be held from Aug. 31 to Sept. 13 in New York. In his statement, Cuomo said the USTA “will take extraordinary precautions to protect players and staff, including robust testing, additional cleaning, extra locker room space, and dedicated housing & transportation.”
While it’s across the river in New Jersey, there are four preseason games at MetLife Stadium between Aug. 13 and Sept. 3. All the events prior to that first preseason game have either been postponed or canceled.
Yesterday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that golf’s PGA Championship would be played at Harding Park, without fans in attendance. That event, golf’s first major of this interrupted season, is scheduled to be held Aug. 6-9. The 49ers have home preseason games in Santa Clara on Aug. 21 and Sept. 3.
NASCAR is only beginning to let a few fans in to events.
The NFL hasn’t announced any modifications, but it appears unlikely that early games will be played in front of anything resembling a full house.