NEW ORLEANS – Mayor LaToya Cantrell in partnership with the New Orleans Saints have agreed to a phased and deliberate pilot approach allowing fans to attend Saints games in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, beginning with this weekend’s game against the Carolina Panthers.
Mayor Cantrell released the following statement:
“I am allowing the Saints to move forward with this pilot exercise, allowing for limited seating in the Dome this Sunday, as part of a phased, incremental approach that is consistent with the City’s Phase 3 re-opening,” said Mayor LaToya Cantrell. “The way forward towards additional expansion depends on the current trends remaining stable. An outbreak or a sudden increase in community spread would be reason to pause. I am glad to begin welcoming Saints fans back into the Dome, and hopeful that we can continue on a deliberate, gradual path forward.”
Season ticket holders will have access to 3,000 tickets that will be distributed for the October 25 Carolina home game to be played at noon CT.
Barring any change in local health & safety guidelines as any additional changes to crowd size are only possible if current trends continue to remain stable then and only then will capacity increase to 6,000 fans for both the November 15th San Francisco and November 22nd Atlanta home games.
Capacity would then increase to 15,000 for the December 20th Kansas City and December 25 Minnesota home games, again barring any change in local health and safety guidelines.
A limited number of tickets was also approved to satisfy player, team and other required NFL obligations.
In addition to monitoring compliance with all health and safety protocols at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, Mayor Cantrell’s office will also be strictly enforcing crowd gatherings throughout the Central Business District and French Quarter on game days to ensure all city regulations are being observed.
The Saints and Mayor Cantrell’s office encourage all of our fans to wear your mask while in public, practicing good hygiene and maintaining social distance. It is imperative as noted that everyone do their part to make sure all of the progress made by our community in our fight against Covid-19 is not lost and we have no setbacks, this plan is based on creating a healthy and safe environment for our fans to arrive, enjoy and depart Saints home games safely.
“The Saints want to thank the tremendous teamwork of Governor Jon Bel Edwards, the Louisiana Stadium Exposition Board, Scott Woodward and the LSU Athletics Department, ASM Global for their collaborative design of Venue Shield – the best stadium reactivation plan in the NFL, Ochsner Health, the National Football League and of course – Mayor LaToya Cantrell and her entire health and safety team.”