The Kansas City Chiefs held a training camp for about 2,000 fans at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday morning, marking for the first time this season that a team in the league has done so amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The exercise, the ninth of the Chiefs of the training camp, was open to a select group of season ticket holders who had to wear a mask and practice social distance all the time. They plan to hold another rehearsal that is also open to fans next week.
“It was good to have a chance to get out today, had a few fans there,” Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy told the Kansas City Star. “The organization has done a great job of making sure they do it the right way, giving fans the opportunity to participate. They brought some energy. I know the boys felt it; they flew from that energy. ‘
There have been more than 5.6 million confirmed cases of the virus since Saturday afternoon, according to The New York Times, and more than 175,000 deaths have been attributed to it. It has forced teams to implement countless new security procedures during camps, including on-site testing, social distance requirements, virtual meetings and more.
Many teams, including the Chiefs, are already planning to allow only a small number of fans this fall games. Kansas City is expected to allow about 22 percent capacity at Arrowhead Stadium, which is about 17,000 fans. Several teams have decided not to let fans in.
“I think 17,000 is going to be pretty loud,” Chiefs center Austin Reiter told the Star. ‘I’m sure there is sound, that would be nice. A quiet game will probably be a bit awkward, but I’m pretty excited because I think we’ll definitely have some good sound here with the limited capacity we’ll have. “
About 2,000 season ticket holders showed up at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday morning for a Chiefs practice. (Charlie Riedel / AP)
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