By Kayla Smith, Noah Cody, & Sadie Thuestad
With the world slowly starting to open back up more than a year after COVID-19 first started, it means that there can now be fans in the arena during a sporting event. One of the organizations that are allowing fans into the arena is the Green Bay Blizzard. The Green Bay Blizzard is a professional arena football team at the Resch Center located in Green Bay, right next to Lambeau Field.
Fans watch excitedly from the stands.
Even though the number of fans allowed in the arena is limited to 25%, almost everyone would rather have some fans than none at all. However, the Blizzard and the Resch Center still have policies in place to ensure the safety of those who decide to come to a game. Such as wearing masks if you are not eating or drinking. Another new policy is pod seating. Pod seating ensures that fans are at least six feet away from other fans, so when purchasing a ticket, fans can only purchase tickets in areas where there are pods open. The pods are grouped starting at two and then can go all the way up to eight. Leading up to the season, fans posted very positive messages to the team’s social media pages. One fan stated, “My family and I are glad to hear that there will be a season and fans this year!”
Young fans happy to be watching the game in person.
However, with the city starting to open and lessen the restriction slowly, the organization hopes that for their second half of the season, they will be allowed to have either bigger pods or get rid of pods altogether. Selena Cashman, head of ticket sales, stated, “We are hoping that as the season progresses, Brown County Health will approve more seating.” With the first two home games of the season being a success with fans following the protocols and keeping everyone safe, this is a positive sign of having more fans in the arena. The Blizzard, whose record is currently 1-1, have another home game this Friday against the Louisville Xtreme.
Fans enjoying the games while remaining distanced from other fans.