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The Bears are one of 30 NFL teams to hold their stadium to full capacity starting as soon as the 2021 NFL preseason, NFL Network’s Judy Battista reported on Tuesday.
Battista mentioned the Broncos and Colts as the only two teams to not have approval for their respective stadiums to do so. She also noted that teams can have fans in attendance at training camp. The Bears have not officially announced that they will be doing the same yet, but their team website indicates they plan on doing so.
Of the 32 NFL teams, 13 of them hosted fans during the 2020 regular season. The Bears were not among those teams, and the city of Chicago has generally held a strict attendance policy with their teams in the four major sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with vaccination rates rising and the amount of cases trending downward, teams around the league appear to be planning on returning to as close to a sense of normalcy as they can, given the circumstances.
The NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero further clarified the league’s plan for the 2021 season.
Rules on masking and vaccinations will be dictated by teams in concert with state and local guidelines, not by the NFL. But with 100% capacity expected at all stadiums, covered seats and pods will be gone. The league continues to encourage everyone to get vaccinated.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 25, 2021
The Bears have yet to make an official announcement as to the exact capacity to which Soldier Field will host fans during the regular season, but the Bears are selling single-game tickets for the regular season, as well as for the preseason.