No Fans at Lambeau for Remainder of Regular Season

The team could revisit allowing some ticketed fans into the stadium for potential home playoff games.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers will not host ticketed fans for their remaining two regular-season games, but could for the playoffs, the team announced on Tuesday evening.

For the past two home games against the Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles, the team hosted employees and their household families. That amounted to about 300 socially distanced people for the night game against Chicago and 508 people for the afternoon game against Philadelphia. Those were deemed trials of the team’s COVID procedures and were aimed at potentially allowing some ticketed fans into upcoming games against the Carolina Panthers on Dec. 19 and Tennessee Titans on Dec. 27.

“We don’t take this stuff lightly in terms of being able to have people in the stands,” Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy, speaking via Zoom on Nov. 23, said as part of the accompanying video.

Instead, due to COVID-19 infection rates in the Green Bay area and in consultation with local health-care officials, the team will continue with the household approach but could revisit for potential home playoff games.

For weeks, according to NFLPA data from Johns Hopkins University, Green Bay had been the hardest-hit NFL city in terms of infection rates. However, rates are trending the right direction. On Nov. 1, the rate was a league-worst 104.9 new cases per 100,000 population. When Murphy spoke two weeks ago, Green Bay was second among NFL cities with 90.83 new cases per day per 100,000 population.

In the latest data, Green Bay is fourth with 73.82 new cases. Minnesota (93.83), Indianapolis (87.86) and Cincinnati (75.49) now top the dubious list.

“As always, the health and safety of our community, players and fans is our top priority,” Murphy said in a team statement. “We appreciate the continued guidance from Bellin Health and the Brown County Public Health Department for advising us and, importantly, for the work they are doing to battle COVID.

“We are extremely proud of how seriously our players and employees have taken the virus and of the steps they have taken to avoid contracting it and infecting others. While Lambeau Field feels very different this year, we look forward to giving our fans watching from home some more great wins. We can’t wait to see packed stands again next season.”