Report: Saints will play Week 7 game in Superdome, not Tiger Stadium
The New Orleans Saints aren’t allowed to play in front of fans at the Superdome due to Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s COVID-19 restriction on large gatherings, but they’ve reportedly been trying to remedy that by possibly playing games at LSU’s Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, which is allowing fans at 25 percent capacity.
That plan is a no-go for the time being.
Jeff Duncan of The Athletic reported that the Saints have told the Carolina Panthers, their Week 7 opponent, that the game will happen at the Superdome as planned.
The Saints have informed the Carolina Panthers that there will be no schedule change for this Sunday's game.
— Jeff Duncan (@JeffDuncan_) October 19, 2020
The reasons are largely logistical, according to Duncan. LSU has a home game scheduled the night before the Saints’ Week 7 game, and the tight turnaround time between the two games made it impossible for the stadium to be ready.
The dream isn’t dead yet. It’s possible that the Saints could still play a game in front of fans at Tiger Stadium, but it wouldn’t be until late November at the earliest.
LSU has a big night game against Alabama the previous night in Tiger Stadium. So barring a compromise or policy change from Mayor LaToya Cantrell, the Saints' earliest chance to play home games in front of a significant crowd will be their Week 11 game vs. Atlanta on Nov. 22.
— Jeff Duncan (@JeffDuncan_) October 19, 2020
New Orleans mayor stands firm on large-gatherings ban
The Saints have been repeatedly appealing to Cantrell to change her policy and allow them to open the Superdome to a limited amount of fans, but Cantrell hasn’t budged. Not even when the Saints took to Twitter to refute some of Cantrell’s reasons for not allowing fans at sporting events in New Orleans.
Setting the record straight:
Since Week 1, there have been 33 NFL games played with fans.
Of those games, 10 were played with fans in domed or enclosed stadiums:
Week 2:
DAL & INDY
Week 3:
INDY
Week 4:
HOU & DAL
Week 5:
atl, HOU & DAL
Week 6:
Indy & DAL— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) October 15, 2020
Furthermore, the Saints and Cardinals have played with a limited capacity under the roof. In NO instances have there been any reporting of COVID clusters or outbreaks in these situations OR any situations in stadiums with fans present
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) October 15, 2020
For some weird reason, posting several whiny tweets directed at her evidence-based health policies didn’t cause Cantrell to immediately grant the Saints’ wish to host fans in a fixed-roof facility during a pandemic. Mayors always make policy changes when a sports team’s Twitter account calls them out, right?
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