Questions abound since Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney announced a limit on public gatherings until February 2021, casting doubt on any professional sports teams having fans in the stands. In an email obtained by Crossing Broad, it appears the Eagles are working on a number of proposals to accommodate fans if and when they’re permitted at Lincoln Financial Field (bolded text emphasized by me):

We hope you and your family are safe and healthy. Since you elected not to opt-out of the 2020 season, we want to provide you an update regarding our plans for the 2020 season. As you know, your health and safety are a priority for us and we are working through a variety of scenarios with guidance from the league, as well as federal (CDC), state and local officials. Those discussions are ongoing and we will continue to communicate with you as the season approaches and our plans take shape.

Games at Lincoln Financial Field will certainly have a different look and feel this season. NFL guidelines require that we implement certain health and safety measures, including a requirement that all ticketholders and staff wear face masks. In addition, we must follow CDC guidelines, which requires us to implement social distancing within the seating bowl. As a result, we are developing a variety of scenarios for a reduced-capacity seating configuration. Furthermore, due to the current state and local government orders, we must also develop a plan under a scenario that does not include any fans.

In order to comply with all of the current government guidelines, we are unable to provide the specific seat location(s) that you use when Lincoln Financial Field is available at full capacity. As such, we have disabled the season tickets on your account, including tickets that have been forwarded or resold, to allow us to create a new seating manifest. Please be assured all monies paid to date will remain as a credit on your account. If tickets are available within a modified seating configuration, you will be able to apply your credit toward any potential purchase of tickets. In the event that games are played without fans, a refund or credit will be provided to you in accordance with our Refund Policy.

We appreciate your patience during these unprecedented times and will continue to update you as more information becomes available. As previously communicated, if you have concerns about attending games in person this season, you can opt-out of the 2020 season by completing the opt-out form found on the Eagles Account Manager.

A few things to note from the letter. The plan as of now appears to include any staff and ticket holders to wear masks inside the stadium, obviously. Now, I don’t know about you, but can you imagine the Linc staff trying to enforce that policy on your drunk Uncle Tony when he’s twelve beers deep in the middle of the third quarter after DeSean Jackson drops a 40-yard bomb from Carson Wentz? Good luck.

It’s interesting that the team is working on various plans to accommodate a varying range of fans, though I wonder if upper level ticket holders will have access to lower level seats, how money credited to a ticket holder’s account will work, and what a ticket holder would do in the event they can’t make the game at the last minute. While there’s no language prohibiting giving the tickets friends and family, I imagine there will be questions abound. Will those recipients be subject to questions asking for travel history for the purposes of contact tracing or states requiring quarantine?

The biggest blow to season ticket holders is the inability to sell tickets due to the unknown location of the seats. The inability to sell tickets is why I’d argue the best part of the policy is the option to opt-out of the 2020 season altogether. I figured that this late in the game they’d offer a credit to the season ticket holder in a best-case scenario, but this is a positive sign for those waiting on further information as the season approaches.