Charlotte Hornets: Will Fans Be Allowed To Attend Any Home Games This Year?

As we all know, this year has been unlike any that we have ever seen, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With that said, the Charlotte Hornets have been very responsible in assuring that the COVID-19 protocols set up by the league have been followed. Wednesday night’s game against the Washington Wizards will mark the first time this year that the Hornets needed to postpone one of their games due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

Charlotte Hornets: Wednesday’s game against the Wizards postponed

On Monday, the NBA announced that Wednesday’s game between the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards has been postponed.

The effects of COVID are especially unfortunate this year, especially with the way that LaMelo Ball has been playing. This is one of the most exciting years the Hornets have played in a long time. Just think about the games that Charlotte fans have missed so far. At home, the Hornets have beaten Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets and Ball became the youngest player in NBA history to earn a triple-double.

Don’t forget when Miles Bridges hit 3 consecutive three-pointers to tie the game on a comeback effort against the Thunder or when Terry Rozier posterized Durant in their game against the Nets.

Can you imagine how electric Spectrum Center would have been if all 20,000+ fans were there when this happened? The place would have been rocking.

So with all of that said, can fans really expect to see their Charlotte Hornets in person? Well, it’s not as far fetched as you may think. The NBA released a statement on January 12, outlining the status of each team’s fan allowance. In this statement, the NBA has been pretty clear that they are allowing teams to make decisions based on their state’s laws and ordinances.

The Hornets provided a statement on the status of fans attending home game on November 30:

In this statement, the Hornets said that they would not allow fans in Spectrum Center to begin the season, but they also said that they were optimistic that they would be able to host fans later in the season. The question is then when do they expect fans to be able to attend games? The Hornets have left that question open ended. The reason for doing this is because while they do want fans in the stands, they also want to help protect the community from significant spread of the virus.

According to Executive Order 169 that was put in place by North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, the maximum amount of people that can attend a venue that holds over 10,000 people, is only 7% capacity. For example, Spectrum Center holds 20,200 people, so with the 7% capacity order in place, the maximum number of fans that could attend is 1,414.

While this is not a large number of people, the Hornets don’t want to take any chances to spread the virus to the community or to their players. The News & Observer reported that as of Sunday, 11.8% of the COVID-19 tests that were taken, came back positive. The state of North Carolina wants the positivity rate to be at 5% or below.

I don’t see the Hornets organization allowing fans to come to games until that percentage is starting to trend downwards. There are some numbers that are a little more positive. A couple of weeks ago, that percentage was trending at around 16%, and so to see that number drop by nearly 5% is encouraging. Even with the rate going down, there is still a long way to go until that number gets anywhere close to the desired 5%.

The Hornets organization is trying to get fans back in the building. They are putting procedures in place for when they allow fans to attend. Be prepared for the concession stands to look different, also be prepared to wear a face covering, and expect the tickets to be a little pricier.

If the Hornets allow fans to attend, I would image that they would make the call a little later in the season. If the trends begin to show significant decline, I would say the best case scenario would be around March or April. A more realistic date would probably be around playoff time if in fact the Hornets either make the playoffs, or they are on the brink of playoff contention. If the Hornets end up having a bad season and the virus numbers are staying around the same, or even a little lower, I wouldn’t expect the Hornets to bring fans into Spectrum Center.

Let’s just hope that COVID numbers go down and that the Hornets have a great year. Stay safe out there!

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