49ers offer season ticket holders option for refunds, say attendance could be limited

The San Francisco 49ers sent out an email to to season ticket holders Wednesday saying they may not be able to accommodate full or limited crowds this season.

The email offered alternatives for season ticket holders who don’t want to attend games. Options include using their 2020 payments as credit for the 2021 season, or a refund. The team told fans limited attendance at games is still a possibility.

This decision comes as COVID-19 cases surge across the country, especially in California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom has rolled back the state’s reopening plan in many areas. The pandemic has put the future of sports on hold.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading expert on COVID-19, said in a CNN interview that, “Unless players are essentially in a bubble — insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day — it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall. If there is a second wave, which is certainly a possibility and which would be complicated by the predictable flu season, football may not happen this year.”

Fauci later clarified that he was giving his public safety advice; the ultimate decision is up to the NFL.

State guidelines could also affect fan attendance, as the league is allowing teams and the states they are in to dictate capacity.

“It’s difficult for me to imagine a stadium that’s filled until we have immunity, until we have a vaccine,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a news conference May 7.

California NFL teams the Los Angeles Rams and L.A. Chargers may face financial difficulties if fan attendance is prohibited, as the new $5 billion SoFi Stadium is to be completed soon.

Training camps for all 32 teams are still scheduled for July 28, though the league has already canceled two preseason games and the players are pushing to cancel all exhibitions.

The regular season is schedules to begin Sept. 10, but it might also be pushed back.