Roger Goodell: NFL expects full stadiums during 2021 season

In some hopeful, obvious, and also most likely irrelevant news, today the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that he expects to have full stadiums during the 2021 season.

The only other words I was able to find him saying were from Pro Football Talk, where they quote Goodell as saying, “All of us in the NFL want to see every one of our fans back. Football is simply not the same without the fans and we expect to have full stadiums in the 2021 season.”

This is, of course, news for Seattle Seahawks fans as the 12s did not get to have one representative in the stands at Lumen Field last season and surely the Seahawks would like that to change in 2021.

As I said earlier, it’s a hopeful take from Goodell given the current rate of the vaccine rollout is high and eligibility is rapidly expanding along with the supply. His statement is also most likely irrelevant, as Goodell will surely allow NFL stadiums to be opened up with whatever guidelines the teams' local governments allow, and with whatever the CDC recommends.

There was no clear game or date set by Goodell, as he didn’t specify that he expects full stadiums for the first game, just that the NFL expects to have full stadiums “during” the 2021 season. The NFL is in a lucky spot as they will get to see how the vaccine rolls out and will get to see how the MLB handles this summer, all before the first preseason NFL game is even held.