Report: Ontario Government Discussing 1,000 Person Limit at Sports Venues

The Toronto Raptors may have to deal with new capacity restrictions as the Ontario government reportedly discusses a 1,000 person limit at sports venues

Aaron Rose | Dec 30, 2021

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Capacity limits at Scotiabank Arena may be getting even tighter in the next few days.

The Ontario government is reportedly meeting to discuss possibly capping sports venue capacity at 1,000 people, according to CityNews' Richard Southern.

NEW Premier Ford is meeting with his cabinet, looking at a plan that would see students return to in-person learning on Jan 5, & sports venues capped at 1000 spectators, sources tell me. However what goes into cabinet is not always what comes out, this is still subject to change
— Richard Southern (@RichardCityNews) December 30, 2021

The Toronto Raptors have already been forced to play two straight home games at 50% capacity and on Tuesday, Scotiabank Arena was prohibited from selling food or drinks in order to enforce a more strict mask mandate.

COVID-19 cases in Ontario continue to rise with over 13,000 new cases reported Thursday and a 30.5% test positivity rate, the highest the province has seen to date. That's in addition to 965 people currently hospitalized because of the virus.

The Raptors are scheduled to play the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night, the New York Knicks on Sunday afternoon, the San Antonio Spurs next Tuesday.

Scotiabank Arena's max capacity for Raptors games is 19,800. The team has played in front of 7,988 and 6,960 fans, respectively, in its last two home games

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