Roger Goodell: Expectation is for full stadiums in fall

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he anticipates packed venues across the league this fall.

"All of us in the NFL want to see every one of our fans back," Goodell said Tuesday. "Football is simply not the same without the fans and we expect to have full stadiums in the 2021 season."

Games went on in 2020 in either empty stadiums or those with fans numbering well below capacity because of the threat of COVID-19. But with the U.S. poised to administer three million vaccinations every day, Goodell is optimistic.

Further, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told ESPN's "First Take" earlier this month that there is reason for a positive outlook.

"I hope that by the time we get to the end of the summer, the beginning of the fall, we'll be very close to what we could consider ‘normal,'" Fauci said.

NFL total attendance in 2020 was 1.2 million, down from nearly 17 million in 2019. Most of the fans attended stadiums in Texas and Florida, where state regulations allowed greater capacity.

--Field Level Media