Tuesday 14 July 2020 22:15, UK
The Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies will play in empty stadiums at home this season.
The city of Philadelphia on Tuesday cancelled all "large public events" through February 2021 amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
"The Eagles are still going to be allowed to play, although without crowds. The Phillies will continue to be allowed to play, although without crowds," the city's managing director, Brian Abernathy, told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
City health commissioner Thomas Farley said although the NFL and MLB protocols for player safety "look pretty good", having spectators at Lincoln Financial Field (Eagles) or Citizens Bank Park (Phillies) would not be safe.
"I do think that games can be played with the kind of safety precautions that they're proposing. I do not think that they can have spectators at those games. There's no way for them to be safe having a crowd there," Farley said, per the Inquirer.
"I can't say what the plans are for the league, but from a safety perspective, they can play games but not [have] crowds."
The Eagles ranked 14th in the NFL in home attendance in 2019 with 558,268 fans, an average of 69,783 per game. The Phillies finished 10th in MLB home attendance last season with 2.73m fans, an average of 33,671 per contest.
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