Chris Canfield has been an Arizona Coyotes season-ticket holder for several seasons. He believes there's no better way to watch the NHL than live inside an arena. He adores the communal aspect of hockey fandom, as rows packed with friends and strangers rise up in one voice to support the team.
But on Thursday's opening night against the San Jose Sharks, Canfield sat by himself in Gila River Arena, the seats around him zip-tied closed to create a two-seat perimeter. He was among 2,274 socially distanced fans in attendance, cheering through face coverings, as the Coyotes became the first NHL team to allow fans back in the stands since the league's arenas were shuttered last March.
"It's muffled, man. They still have that weird white noise thing that they have on the broadcasts pumped into the arena too," Canfield said on what it's like to holler through a mask. "And there were a bunch of Sharks fans there. We have dedicated Coyotes fans, but we always have transplants from other places."
Canfield does confirm that there's still trash talk in the time of COVID-19.
"I asked one of the Sharks fans if California knew he was at this game, and that he better not get caught on camera," Canfield said with a laugh.
The Sharks relocated their training camp to Arizona after COVID-19 infection rates and ICU capacity forced another round of closures by Santa Clara County. The Coyotes reopened their arena -- after consultation with city, county and state officials -- despite Arizona's place in the highest tier of average daily cases per day according to the CDC, a tier where California also resides.
"I've been very honest that we're aware that we're in the middle of a pandemic. We knew we can't eliminate it. All we can do is manage it and try to mitigate it," Coyotes CEO Xavier A. Gutierrez told ESPN.
The Coyotes are one of only three NHL teams with ticket-buying fans back in the building to begin the 2021 season, whose start was delayed until January and whose format was radically redesigned because of COVID-19. Arizona capped its capacity at 25%, or around 3,450 fans, and their first two home crowds were both under 2,400.
The Florida Panthers capped their capacity at 25% and had 4,147 fans at their home opener on Sunday. The Dallas Stars announced a 30% cap on capacity at their home games, the first of which will be played on Friday. That's also the Stars' first game of the season, as their first four games on the road were postponed after 17 Dallas players tested positive for COVID-19.
The NHL has been candid about getting fans back into their buildings this season. Commissioner Gary Bettman predicted before the season that teams would have "some sort of socially distant fans at some point" and then "maybe our buildings are open" later in the season. While he felt most buildings would be empty when the puck dropped on 2021, he stressed "how we start doesn't necessarily mean how we have to finish."
But this is how the Coyotes and others chose to start: With fans back in the building. Gutierrez has heard the counterargument to that decision. To paraphrase Dr. Ian Malcolm from "Jurassic Park:" Were NHL teams so preoccupied with whether or not they could have fans, did they ever stop to think whether they should?
"We completely respect that position and understand that there are people out there that would say that. But we focus on what we can control and in the investment we made. Our approach was to say we understand it, and go about trying to create a sense of normalcy in a safe, healthy environment," said Gutierrez.
"Here in Arizona, there are other venues that are open -- shopping centers, schools. Truth be told, we look at what we were able to do here and, because of our investment and the protocols, we feel that we created an environment that's mitigating the risk."
Other NHL teams could have had fans for opening night, but decided they shouldn't. At least for now.
Why the Lightning haven't had fans yet
The last time the Tampa Bay Lightning saw their fans was at the team's Stanley Cup championship celebration in September, which began with a socially distanced boat parade on the bay before fans and players started swapping spit from the same Stanley Cup punch bowl later in the evening.
(The team says there remains no evidence the parade led to a spike in COVID-19 infections locally.)
It was expected the Lightning would see their fans again on Wednesday, opening night for the NHL's regular season, for their Stanley Cup banner raising. After all, the other prominent tenant at Amalie Arena had 3,800 tickets available for each of their home games this season: The NBA's Toronto Raptors, who left Canada due to rising COVID-19 cases and the closure of the Canadian border.
Once the state gave the green light for capacity at indoor sporting events, Vinik Sports Group, which owns the Lightning and Amalie Arena, worked with Tampa General Hospital and the USF School of Medicine on safety protocols for Raptors games that would carry over to Lightning games.
A week before the NHL season, it was all systems go. The Lightning gave the option to existing season-ticket holders to buy seven- or 14-game ticket plans for this season. They sold well, although some season-ticket holders expressed a desire to stay away from the building this season and keep their money in an account for the 2021-22 season, earning a 5% "loyalty credit" in the process.
But on Jan. 7, Tampa Bay's executive team and ownership got together and decided they weren't comfortable with climbing positivity rates in Hillsborough County and reversed their decision. No fans for Lightning games, and thus no fans at Raptors games anymore for the time being, either.
"We are not comfortable bringing large numbers of fans indoors to watch hockey or basketball right now. We are hopeful to reopen the arena soon after we see declining rates and better overall numbers," said Steve Griggs, CEO for Vinik Sports Group and the Lightning, who added that the decision was made "internally, without direction from local health or government officials."
Bill Wickett, executive vice president for the Lightning, said the team is confident in the protocols that were executed for Raptors games, from social distancing standards to added plexiglass dividers to a new cashless transactions system, which is becoming uniform around stadium venues as they reopen during the pandemic. He said that despite the fact that the Raptors and the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers both had fans in the stands for games, there wasn't pushback from Lightning fans regarding the team's decision.
"People are understanding, some even supportive," he said.
The Lightning went ahead and held a banner raising for their 2020 Stanley Cup championship on Wednesday -- only without the "raising" part.
"They say trophies are for the team, rings are for the players, and banners are for the fans," said Rick Peckham, the long-time voice of the Lightning. "So we've decided to wait to raise our 2020 banner to the rafters until after our fans are back inside of our house."
Whenever the team feels it's an appropriate time to invite them back.
The Predators' plan to bring back fans
The Nashville Predators faced the same problem as the Lightning. They were telling their fans to stay away from Bridgestone Arena at the same time the NFL's Tennessee Titans were inviting an increasing number of fans to their home games. The Titans had 14,500 fans at their AFC playoff game, or 21% of stadium capacity.
The Predators opened their season on Thursday with a home victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets without ticket-buying fans in the stands. Like the Lightning, the team's plans were scuttled by a gloomier outlook on COVID-19 cases locally.
"About three weeks ago, cases were soaring. And then coming out of Christmas and New Year's, you just knew that there was some more bad news coming. So we decided to just start the season without fans," said Predators CEO Sean Henry.
And like the Lightning, the Predators were not greeted with much backlash over the decision.
"When we first announced it, we thought we were going to get killed for it. Right in our own town, you have games with people at them," said Henry. "But we're following the same consistency [as the Titans]. We're starting with no fans in the building and then we're going to grow. What I like about it is that we're not putting any dates on it. The first four games will be at this level and then we'll evaluate it and move forward."
The Predators feel that the keys to reopening are uniformity and education. They're participating in a campaign called the "Tennessee Venue Pledge," which seeks to establish a uniform standard of mask usage, hygiene, health checks and concessions policies in venues like Nissan Stadium, the Titans' home; FedExForum, the Memphis Grizzlies' home; and music venues like the Ryman Auditorium.
The groundwork for this partnership was set last March when the pandemic first spiked, as Predators and Bridgestone Arena SVP of Marketing & Entertainment David Kells reached out to about 30 other venues in the state. But then the venues closed en masse. "We thought we were a few weeks away from getting back," said Henry, "it's incredible to think back to how foolish we all were to think that."
Today, the Predators have a collection of new safety standards in place. Like other NHL teams, they've gone with a "no-friction" ticketing plan, getting rid of paper tickets. They've created no-contact concession sales systems. Smoking areas around the arena are closed. There's a "no-bag" policy. Fans will be directed to a specific entrance gate before the game and will be released section by section to leave the game. Masks are, of course, mandatory. The Predators said there's a three-strike rule for usage: a friendly reminder, followed by an order to cover up, and then after a third offense "they can no longer be inside the venue" said Henry, "but we don't anticipate it being a problem."
Enforcement won't just fall to team employees and arena workers. The Predators said there will be clearly identifiable health department reps at each home game to enforce the safety standards.
Even the smallest details have been addressed. Say goodbye, for now, to those giant ketchup pumps for your burger. Communal condiment stations will be replaced with single serve condiments.
"We've relayed to fans, as best as we can, what the environment is going to be inside the arena. This is going to be their choice. They'll choose if they want to come to the game, or move their money to the 2021-22 season," said Chris Junghans, senior VP of sales for the Predators. "It's been good. The next level of communication will be when they can buy tickets."
These have been the toughest conversations. Season-ticket holders want their seats. But due to capacity issues and social distancing, that's not possible. Season-ticket holders want the best games, too. So the Predators are going to do what they believe is the most equitable means to distribute games to season-ticket holders, which is holding a lottery.
"When you have as many season-ticket holders as we have and as few tickets as we'll have to offer, there's a lot of debate about how to get people in the right way. We think a weighted lottery -- based on your tenure, your package type and the amount of seats in your account -- is the way to go," said Henry.
At the start of the season, the Predators didn't have ticket holders at games, but they did have fans in attendance. Like several other NHL teams, Nashville invited the families of team employees and a collection of frontline workers to watch games. The team estimated the crowd was around 380 people, with about 80 being "community heroes."
The St. Louis Blues were another team that opted not to have fans at games to start the season, but invited a small number of family and frontline workers to their January home games. The groups are smaller than 300 people.
"We agreed that this as an appropriate starting point together. Our plan is to have continuous dialogue with the city. As we see improvement in control of the virus, which we all hope we see as the season continues, then that would be our best opportunity to expand it a bit," Blues president of business operations/CEO Chris Zimmerman told ESPN.
Zimmerman said the Blues had a number of scenarios mapped out, including one that "started at zero" and worked its way back to capacity.
"But we've recognized that planning for that or expecting that isn't as important as doing the work to getting back to [fans in the building]," he said. "There's no financial motivation to try to create something that's not appropriate for what this time is about."
Both the Blues and Predators said that having smaller groups at the start will allow them to make sure the protocols are working, and see what changes will be made before a few thousand ticket buyers are allowed back in.
"We could have had 2,700 fans in the building. But we felt we were better off having 150-200 of our employees' families to come in so we can test the protocols. We know how to do 20,000 people. What we haven't been good about is moving people around differently. So we needed to get comfortable with ourselves first," said Henry.
But there's another aspect to Nashville's decision to start slowly, one that is specific to Nashville. The city has experienced its share of trauma in the last year. The pandemic. The tornado that ripped through central Tennessee last March, killing at least 24 people. The Christmas morning bombing in downtown Nashville.
"The last thing we wanted to do was to contribute to anything negative happening to this city. We've been through enough," said Henry.
Panthers' plans have brought permanent innovations
Florida Panthers goalie Chris Driedger was happy. Not only did he get the win on opening night, but he did so in front of the first crowd the team had seen since March 7, 2020.
"It was just good to see some support from the fans. It's pretty unique we were able to do that. It felt like a hockey game," he said.
The Panthers never wavered in their desire to have fans on opening night, because Florida has been one of the country's most "open" states.
"We're in a fortunate position down here where we can have fans based on the political climate," Panthers COO Sean McCaffrey told ESPN. "Our thought process was if someone wants to come, we have to give them the opportunity. There's only a couple of teams that can open up their buildings. So we wanted to seize that and give our fans the opportunity to forget that the world is going to s--- around them. In four or five months we could be ready to pivot and bring even more people into the building. Maybe that's optimistic, but it's a possibility."
The Panthers began preparing their building earlier than most. Owner Vincent Viola decided not to lay off or furlough his staffers during the past year, and employees returned to the arena in June after working from home.
"We almost used that as a kind of a test run as far as processes and procedures," said McCaffrey, who said there hadn't been any COVID-19 spread in their office.
He said the team got a crash course in arena HVAC standards.
"It was a lot of capital improvements. For example, in air filters in your house, your [minimum efficiency reporting value] rating is like a four or five. In arenas, it's usually an eight. Now we have 13s in here," he said. "It goes all the way up to a 15, but you can't even get the 15s. They'd be in a pharmaceutical place where they're making the vaccines right now."
McCaffrey said that BB&T Center's strong air conditioning -- a necessity for a Floridian team -- can completely recirculate the air in the building in a three-hour span. "As it circulates, most of the air is hitting three filters. Most pathogens are getting in the first filter; if not, then the second; if not, then definitely the third."
The team ordered $75,000 in plexiglass, installing it to protect workers that interact with fans in concessions or memorabilia sales.
The next test was the Billboard Latin Music Awards, which were held on Oct. 21, 2020. It was the first large-scale event with capacity that the arena had seen in months. The state government was allowing fans at sporting events and the county government agreed with the Panthers that they could safely bring back fans to the building.
To ensure it was safe, the Panthers reached out to the International WELL Building Institute as a third-party evaluator of their COVID-19 standards, and became the first NHL arena to receive the WELL health-safety rating for facility operations and management for "demonstrating incredible leadership in directly supporting the health, safety and overall well-being of players, fans, employees and their broader community."
The house in order, it was then time to make sure the fans were instructed to act safely, too. The Panthers created a "Red Reminders" program, named after the team's primary color. Bright crimson signs were placed around the arena with reminders about which seats are closed off, mask use and cleanliness. Red paw prints on the floor help control the traffic flow in the arena. "If you're in line and you're not standing on the paw prints, then you're not following the rules," said McCaffrey.
Like other teams, the Panthers have used this moment to upgrade their mobile ordering system. Fans can buy concessions through the NHL app or menus activated by QR codes in the arena.
The changes even extended to the men's room. McCaffrey said the team upgraded its urinal dividers "so you can't see the other person's face when they cough." (A nation of male arena-goers silently nods in appreciation.)
"We've really focused on keeping people separated," he said. "We know fans are going to want to congregate. I've told my employees that they're going to have to police it. If you see something going on, it's your foremost job to correct that behavior. Because if we have 15 or 20 fans doing the wrong thing, that can quickly snowball."
The Panthers allowed season-ticket holders to buy 2021 tickets through seniority. McCaffrey said it was "hand-to-hand combat for our sales staff" in figuring out how to relocate fans from their usual seats to socially distanced ones. "I think for the most part people are understanding. They just want to be in the building," he said.
McCaffrey said the plan for fans is to "get to the door, get what you need, and then get in your seat to watch that game. The fan experience is going to be lessened, but it's a tradeoff. We want people to come here to enjoy. Until more people get that vaccine, this is how it's going to be. It's unfortunate, but we've gotta make sure people follow it."
What -- or who -- comes next?
The vaccine is something the NHL has mentioned, privately and publicly, as a reason for optimism that fans may reenter arenas this season and arrive in greater numbers in the 2021-22 season. Until it is widely available, players and team personnel will continue to be tested regularly for COVID-19. But there is no mandatory testing of fans entering the arena.
In the NHL's extensive regulations for teams and arenas, it instructs teams to consult "legal counsel and their local health authorities when developing related procedures," but cautions that "testing is not a complete solution to mitigate the risks associated with the spread of COVID-19 nor will it reduce or eliminate the need to remain diligent with implementing all required health and safety protocols."
McCaffrey said the logistics of testing all fans would have been "too tough" and wouldn't have been a "100% catchall" for COVID-19 carriers.
Rather than testing, some places will institute temperature checks. Others, like in Glendale for Coyotes games, are using the CLEAR app that the NHL used to monitor player health while in the postseason bubbles last summer.
Chris Canfield, the Coyotes fan who attended opening night, didn't know about the app. So while he went to the correct gate, had an e-ticket and wasn't bringing anything into the building that would delay his entry, he had to wait at the gate until he downloaded CLEAR, signed up for the app and answered the health questions about COVID-19 infection or exposure in the weeks leading up to the game.
"It took me longer to get into the game than it would for some sellouts," he said.
Other methods of prevention like contract tracing aren't being implemented. "To be honest, contract tracing is failing across the board. We're going to work with the county officials if there's a case here. We'll be transparent about it," said McCaffrey of the Panthers.
The three teams that opened the 2021 season with ticket holders in attendance are going to have company soon. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said last week that the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets are "possibilities in the near future" for fan capacity, governed by local regulations.
The NHL collects around 50% of its revenue "directly and indirectly" from having fans inside of the arena, from items like tickets and concessions and parking. "The magnitude of the loss when it comes to that starts with a 'B,'" said commissioner Gary Bettman, who added that the NHL would lose less money if it didn't operate this season.
The teams agree that while having a limited capacity of fans in the building obviously helps the bottom line -- Nashville said that having upwards of 3,000 fans at a game is "a couple hundred thousand dollars" from a revenue standpoint -- it's more about connecting with those customers who decide they want to return to the arenas.
"I don't think any of this is really financially driven. It really is to connect and engage with your fan base, should you have the ability to do it. There's not a lot of money to be made at the numbers that we're talking about," said Daly.
It's also a chance for the fans to reconnect with an experience they love -- even if it means cheering through a mask, restricting themselves to designated areas and assuming the risks that come with attending indoor sporting events during a pandemic.
"I was glad to be back. I feel like the Coyotes took every precaution that I think was reasonable. I didn't walk into that venue feeling unsafe. As adults, we have to decide whether the precautions were enough," said Canfield. "And if they weren't, we had the opportunity to leave and get a refund."