According to a report from The Athletic on Tuesday, the NFL will allow teams to operate with varying capacities, dependent upon state and city guidelines for social distancing.
The Ravens said that they will continue to operate as they have done, by following various guidelines from the league and from Maryland.
“We will continue to follow local, state and NFL guidelines, just as we have throughout the entire COVID-19 health situation,” the team said in a statement.
M&T Bank Stadium’s capacity is 71,008, but the number of fans that fill the stadium, if any, will depend on Baltimore, the state of Maryland and the NFL.
Maryland, which has had a steady drop in COVID-19 cases over the last few weeks, has had 65,337 confirmed cases as of Wednesday afternoon. The state has also had 2,978 confirmed deaths from the virus as well.
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO SPORTS UNCOVERED
Naturally, with guidelines varying from state-to-state, concerns about equity across the league were raised. For example, if Ohio and Pennsylvania have different guidelines than Maryland, the Ravens could face crowds in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh while not having a home crowd themselves.
Then, according to the report, home stadiums could pump in crowd noise to level the playing field. Currently, pumping in artificial noise to home stadiums is against NFL rules.
RELATED: TRAINING CAMP PREVIEW: HOW DOES THE OFFENSIVE LINE SHAKE OUT?
Either way, traditional home-field advantage likely won’t be a major factor for the 2020 season.
Stay connected to the Ravens with the MyTeams app. Click here to download for comprehensive coverage of your teams.
MORE RAVENS NEWS:
- Healthy: Ravens ready for camp
- Internal Discussions: Ravens on Antonio Brown
- RG3: Opens up about career