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Just a year ago, a stadium that wasn't filled to the last seat was completely unthinkable at a Super Bowl.

Even less in a duel as gripping as that of NFL legend Tom Brady on the one hand and Patrick Mahomes on the other.

And now?

At the end of a difficult season, the NFL is delighted with a third full Raymond James Stadium and 22,000 people in the stands when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers take on defending champions Kansas City Chiefs in one week for the 55th Super Bowl in history.

Because the corona pandemic is still raging in the USA with full force and 22,000 fans at the most important football game of the season are a remarkable sign.

For the NFL, the viewers at the Super Bowl in Tampa are also a signal that, despite all the criticism, they have achieved a lot this season.

Yes, 69 players voluntarily gave up the season, according to the NFLPA union.

"Super Bowl at home was hard to imagine"

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers move into the Super Bowl LV in their own stadium with the victory at the Green Bay Packers.

Quarterback Tom Brady is very proud of his team.

Source: Stats Perform News

More than 260 players have been infected with the virus since August 1st.

The Denver Broncos even had to play without a real quarterback because none of the playmakers in the squad was operational.

But now, despite all the difficulties, having reached the goal, the NFL regards as a success.

Even before fans at home games

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"We saw no evidence of transmission in the field during NFL games or training," said NFL chief medical officer Dr.

Allen Sills recently.

This is an important observation.

The NFL feels that the anti-corona rules were good and responsible enough - the cases in which there were sources of infection within the teams and sometimes more than 20 affected people were based on rule violations.

For example, the four Broncos quarterbacks did not have their masks on at a meeting.

However, it was not tracked whether viewers were infected during the season.

The 22,000 people who will be there live on Monday night (0.30 a.m. ProSieben / DAZN), when a team is playing for the championship in their own stadium for the first time in the history of Super Bowl, are not the first spectators in an arena this season.

Both the Chiefs at their Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City and the Buccaneers were among the teams that fans could allow at home games.

Thanks to the regulations in the states.

Some teams did not use the limit values ​​completely out of caution, but according to the AP news agency, more than a million people were live in the stadium this season.

Lots of distance between fan groups

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According to the rules in force in Florida, the NFL could have let significantly more people into the stadium for the Super Bowl.

However, the league adheres to the recommendations of the national health authority and accepts that there will be fewer people than ever at a Super Bowl in the arena in 2021.

There is a lot of space between the small groups of fans; you can only pay for snacks and drinks without contact and without cash.

Raymond James Stadium in Tampa will be a third full at the Super Bowl

Source: to eAFP / Mike Ehrmann

7,500 of the 22,000 spectators will be American healthcare professionals invited by the NFL to the game.

"These dedicated healthcare workers continue to risk their own lives to help others, and we owe them our continued gratitude," said NFL boss Roger Goodell.

Every fan in the stadium should get a KN95 mask.

Tampa's Mayor Jane Castor has also made mask compulsory for the area around the stadium, downtown and other tourist hotspots.

The traditional tail gaiting with barbecuing and drinking in the parking lot in front of the stadium, as the Americans usually celebrate, will not take place at the season's highlight either.

Even that was inconceivable a year ago.