Next Saturday night, there will likely be fans at Lambeau Field for the first time all season. After two weeks of the Packers testing their protocols, it appears that fans will be ushered back into Lambeau Field per a local television source. Packers have taken COVID-19 protocols very seriously and have only dealt with one COVID scare this season back in early November. While there will not be many fans in attendance, there should be enough to make an impact on the players. It matters to the players more than people think based on comments from Aaron Rodgers and others. Also, this will likely provide a road map to the rest of the Wisconsin sports teams.

A source with knowledge to the matter says there will “MOST LIKELY” be fans for the last two December games at Lambeau @WBAY #Packers

— Baillie Burmaster (@bayburmTV) December 7, 2020

In a weird way, December is the perfect time to start adding fans. They will be required to wear a mask, and in the winter, that comes naturally especially at Lambeau in the freezing cold. There will be no issue with fans not wearing masks. Sure, they’ll pull it down to sip on a Miller Lite or eat sausage, but it’s not like a complete ignore because you would get cold as well as expose yourself.

The other part of this is the outdoor venue proved safe for fans. There have been limited infections that have happened inside a stadium. The only two that I can recall were the Cowboys had one issue and the Chiefs at the start of the year. Also in non-sports, Wisconsin is seeing their numbers start to fall a bit after their spike in mid-November. It is not surging like it was, and in another week, those numbers will continue to be lower. Brown County is also apparently over their surge as well which again, makes this feasible.

Could this be a road map going forward for other Wisconsin sports? Maybe. Milwaukee Bucks, Wisconsin Badgers, and Marquette Golden Eagles are all inside for basketball. That’s a little different with an airborne virus. My expectation is that they do something similar to what the Packers did with friends and family first. See how that goes then maybe open it up to a few fans. For the Milwaukee Brewers, the most practical thing they could do is keep Miller Park open all season. And if bad weather forces to roof to close, make fans not permitted. Although who knows where we will sit with the vaccine by April.

We’ll see if the Packers do in fact have fans at Lambeau next Saturday night.

Charlie.