Were Super Bowl LV attendees "packed like sardines" at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on February 7, 2021, creating the potential of a superspreader COVID-19 event? No, that's not true: Those weren't all people at the championship game. An NFL spokesman tweeted the day of the Super Bowl that there were 30,000 fan cutouts throughout the stadium in addition to 25,000 (actual) people. The stadium seats 75,000, according to NFL.com.
The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published February 8, 2021, which opened:
Crazy how all them graduations was canceled .... but the Super Bowl was PACKED like sardines
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Wed Feb 10 18:58:16 2021 UTC)
A February 7, 2021, tweet by Brian McCarthy, the NFL's vice president of communications, stated:
There are 30,000 fan cutouts placed thruout the stadium & about 25k people here. Place looked packed when I arrived at 8:30 a.m. today. Cutouts provide physical distance btwn pods of fans & vaccinated health care workers. And they are pretty cool looking. $ goes to charity #SBLV
There are 30,000 fan cutouts placed thruout the stadium & about 25k people here. Place looked packed when I arrived at 8:30 a.m. today. Cutouts provide physical distance btwn pods of fans & vaccinated health care workers. And they are pretty cool looking. $ goes to charity #SBLV
-- Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) February 8, 2021
A February 2, 2021, post on NFL.com explained the precautions that would be taken at the Super Bowl in hopes of preventing the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. The measures imposed for attendees included:
All fans in attendance will be provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) and required to adhere to safety protocols, including:
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Wearing a complimentary KN95 mask at all times;
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Maintaining a social distance of at least six feet from other fans;
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Maintaining social distance when entering, exiting and moving about the stadium;
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Washing their hands regularly and making use of hand sanitizing stations;
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Presenting all tickets on mobile devices;
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Making cashless purchases to reduce high-touch interactions; and
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Staying home if experiencing COVID-related symptoms.
