ST. PETERSBURG, Fla — Gov. Ron DeSantis says he continues to support any Florida NFL teams' decisions to allow fans at games, and the state's transition into Phase 3 of reopening largely won't impact them.
"We're gonna be able to host a Super Bowl in February," DeSantis said. "We expect to do a full Super Bowl. And, we're gonna show that we'll be able to do that."
He made these comments in reference to a question about Phase 3's impact on sporting venue capacities, including for Rays and Bucs games.
"They're not really impacted, cause I've supported that. It's not really the government but what the leagues have been comfortable with. I very much support the Bucs having fans...so they can operate."
He went on to say that he's seen that the organizations have been more cautious about COVID-19 safety guidelines and limited fan capacity and aren't looking to go to full capacity any time soon. However, he says he does believe more can be done than what is being done currently, suggesting that outdoor transmission of coronavirus isn't a major contributor to the spread of the virus.
"I'd like to see everyone have fans to some capacity, and let's build going further," he said.
Earlier this week, the NFL leaders in charge of planning Super Bowl LV voiced their hopes that fans will be in attendance for the big game at Raymond James Stadium.
“Our hope is going to be to fill the stadium with fans,” said Jon Barker, the NFL’s head of live event production. “That’s our hope, but the smart thing to do is to prepare just in case. If we find ourselves in a situation on Feb. 7 where we are in a different scenario we’re just going to make sure we’re ready for that.”
The governor's primary announcement Friday was that the state would be moving into Phase 3 of its reopening plan and lifting state-level capacity restrictions on bars and restaurants. Click here to read more about what that means.
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