It’s the first but most likely not the last move for a big professional team, as the New Orleans Saints announced Thursday that they will be requiring fans to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative Covid-19 test to attend home games this season in the Caesars Superdome.
In a statement posted on the team’s website the Saints said: “As required by the City of New Orleans, fans will simply need to show their vaccination card or verified digital proof of vaccination (LA Wallet or other official government sanctioned app) or negative Covid-19 PCR test taken within the prior 72 hours to attend games.” The Saints also said that fans will be required to wear masks at all times other than when drinking or eating. A similar masks requirement is also in place for Saturday’s preseason game at the Las Vegas Raiders’ new Allegiant Stadium, where a previous soccer match earned some scorn from the Nevada governor for the lax use of masks once fans were inside the building.
Indeed, even last year during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, there were many venues that simply did not enforce the mask and social-distancing guidelines that were put in place to help keep fans safe. But now as the delta variant is causing a surge in Covid-19 infections, it seems as though teams may be getting more serious about checking fans’ health status and ensuring they are compliant with guidelines.
What will be interesting to watch over the near future is whether or not more teams require vaccination proof for stadium entry, and if so how those teams will perform the checks, since there is no standard app or service yet where people can enter their vaccination information. The Clear service does allow you to scan your vaccination card, but with vaccination card fraud already becoming a thing it’s not clear how stadium staff will determine real cards from fraudulent ones.
