The Washington Football Team will have no football fans present for its first playoff game in five years.
The team has announced that, due to the pandemic, Washington won’t be hosting fans at Saturday night’s home game against the Buccaneers.
“Following continued restrictions from the State of Maryland and Prince George’s County regarding limitations on gatherings due to COVID, we are not able to have fans attend our upcoming playoff game on January 8th at FedEx Field,” the team said in a statement. “Our entire team, especially our players, will miss having our passionate fans in the stadium as we take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We are grateful for all of the support from our community and encourage everyone to stay safe.”
The NFL has deferred to state and local authorities throughout the season when determining maximum allowable fan attendance. More than one million fans attended games in the 2020 season; in 2019, more than 17 million fans attended games in person.