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A recent study published on medRxiv found that having fans in the stands for NFL and college football games did not increase the spread of COVID-19.

medRxiv Study

Does the study say that social distancing (limited attendance) and mask wearing works? I'm all for it! Hopefully the vaccines allow us to return to normal attendance soon.

Main outcomes and measures

Estimating the impact of NFL and NCAA games with in-person attendance on new, reported COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents at the county-level up to 14 days post-game.

Question
Did NFL and NCAA football games with limited in-person attendance cause a substantia increase in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the U.S. counties where the games were held?

Findings
This time-series, cross-sectional study of U.S. counties with NFL and NCAA football games used matching and difference-in-differences design to estimate the effect of games with limited in-person attendance on county-level COVID-19 spread. Our study does not find an increase in county-level COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents due to NFL and NCAA football games held with limited in-person attendance.

It would be nice to get fans back in the stands, for the players and the fans. I hope the teams that can afford to open up masked, limited seating events are allowed to do so. Let's go!