Cleveland Browns will have fans in stadium to begin 2020 season

Mike DeWine announced stadium capacities for the Cleveland Browns

On Saturday morning Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced that the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals would be granted 6,000 fans per home game. The breakdown of that number is 1,500 fans per side of the stadium.

DeWine stressed that fans will have to enter their proper gate and must be in a mask to attend.

While there was some speculation that no fans may be allowed to enter the games, this is still a bit of a disappointment for the Ohio teams as Mary Kay Cabot reports that Browns were hopeful to have up to 14,000 fans.

At this moment the approval is only for September 17th when the Bengals travel to Cleveland, September 27th when the Washington Football Team travels to Cleveland, Octobers 4th when the Jacksonville Jaguars visit the Bengals, and October 25th when the Browns travel to Cincinnati.

While it’s extremely difficult to predict the future, there is hope that if this goes well the fan restriction will be raised before the end of the season. However, I wouldn’t get your hopes up on seeing 67,895 fans pack First Energy Stadium on Sunday’s this fall.

With limited fans and mechanical sounds for the 2020 season, you could see major home-field advantages taken away. Places like Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City and Century Link Stadium in Seattle that is known for being so loud will not be nearly as big a factor in 2020.

Now, is that the reason the Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks have won Super Bowls recently? I think not, but it has certainly helped them steal a couple of wins. The Browns will learn early what it is like without fans early when they host the Bengals on Thursday Night Football in week two at home.

If the team even looked competitive in week one vs. the Baltimore Ravens, First Energy Stadium would be rocking with the Bengals and Joe Burrow in town.