How many fans can your favorite team host? Here are NC’s new COVID guidelines for sports
More North Carolina sports fans are going to get the opportunity to see teams play in person this spring.
N.C. Governor Roy Cooper announced that the state was loosening attendance restrictions, beginning Friday at 5 p.m., for sports venues across the state. The order is scheduled to be in place through April 30.
The new order allows indoor and outdoor sports venues to increase capacity up to 50%. Social distancing of six feet is still required and guests must be in seats except to enter, exit, use amenities, visit the restroom and obtain food or drink.
The actual attendance numbers may be lower than 50% at many venues due to distanced seating and other protocols.
That is a significant jump from what had previously been allowed under the governor’s orders from last month, which allowed bigger indoor arenas, such as Spectrum Center and PNC Arena — home to the Charlotte Hornets and Carolina Hurricanes, respectively — to hold up to 15% capacity. That order was set to expire Friday.
Many outdoor sports venues, such as Charlotte Motor Speedway, had previously been allowed to hold up to 30% of capacity. Indoor venues that hold under 5,000, including high sports venues, had only been allowed 250 people.
Below is a breakdown of major college and professional sports teams in North Carolina and how many fans they can host at games under state guidelines. Note that individual teams decide whether to open at their maximum allowed capacity or limit attendance to what they’re comfortable with.
Charlotte Hornets, NBA
Spectrum Center, Charlotte
▪ Total capacity: 19,077
▪ Now allowed under state guidelines: 9,538
▪ Actual attendance increasing to: 5,000
After previously allowing almost 3,000 fans per game, the Hornets are increasing capacity from 15% to 25% (about 5,000 fans per game), beginning with the team’s next home game scheduled for Friday vs. the Miami Heat.
“The energy and passion provided by our Hornets fans has made a tremendous impact for our players and coaches, and we’re excited to safely increase Spectrum Center’s capacity to 25%,” said Hornets President & Vice Chairman Fred Whitfield in a statement. “We’re extremely proud of the way in which our fans have overwhelmingly adopted our new health and safety protocols, and we’re grateful for our entire HSE staff that has made the health and safety of our guests the top priority.”
All of the team’s previously announced health and safety protocols, including wearing masks and social distancing, will remain in place with the increased capacity.
North Carolina Courage, National Women’s Soccer League
Sahlen’s Stadium, Cary
▪ Total capacity: 10,000
▪ Now allowed under state guidelines: 5,000
Carolina Hurricanes, NHL
PNC Arena, Raleigh
▪ Total capacity: 18,680
▪ Now allowed under state guidelines: 9,340
▪ Actual attendance increasing to: TBD
The Hurricanes had been allowing up to 3,000 fans into PNC Arena since the most recent capacity limits were set in February. While the new guidance would appear to allow more than 9,000, the team released a statement from President and GM Don Waddell tempering those expectations, citing the ability to maintain proper distancing requirements, as well.
“We’ve seen, heard and felt the impact that our Caniacs have had since we re-opened our doors earlier this month,” Waddell’s statement read. “We continue to be interested in increasing capacity, and will do so safely, following all local regulations and applicable National Hockey League protocols. We thank Governor Cooper and Dr. Cohen for their continued leadership and trust in us to provide a safe environment for our fans at PNC Arena.”
Minor league baseball
▪ Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Durham
▪ Total capacity: 10,000
▪ Now allowed under state guidelines: 5,000
▪ Truist Field, Charlotte
▪ Total capacity: 10,200
▪ Now allowed under state guidelines: 5,100
“We are reviewing the Governor’s latest order to see how it will impact the amount of people that will be able to safely attend college games and special events during the next month. We were pleased to host our first college game this past Saturday and witnessed how eager baseball fans are to get back to Truist Field,” the Knights said in a statement. “We know that interest will continue to grow for successive games and we’ll be ready to welcome them safely. As the Knights’ season isn’t scheduled to start until May 4, we’re hopeful our capacity will grow again by that date.”
▪ Five County Stadium, Zebulon
▪ Total capacity: 6,500
▪ Now allowed under state guidelines: 3,250
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, Single A
▪ Atrium Health Ballpark, Kannapolis
▪ Total capacity: 3,218 (seated)
▪ Now allowed under state guidelines: 1,609
NC State
NC State football (Spring game scheduled for April 10)
▪ Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh
▪ Total capacity: 57,583
▪ Now allowed under state guidelines: 28,791
UNC
UNC football (Spring game scheduled for April 24)
▪ Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill
▪ Total capacity: 50,500
▪ Now allowed under state guidelines: 25,250
Davidson
▪ Richardson Stadium, Davidson
▪ Total capacity: 6,000
▪ Now allowed under state guidelines: 3,000
Charlotte Motor Speedway
▪ Total capacity: 95,000
▪ Now allowed under state guidelines: 47,500
Reporters Steve Wiseman and Alex Andrejev contributed to this story.
This story was originally published March 23, 2021 at 3:50 PM with the headline "How many fans can your favorite team host? Here are NC’s new COVID guidelines for sports."
