If the Giants and Jets Can't Have Fans in MetLife Stadium, No NFL Team Can Have Fans at Games

The New York Giants and New York Jets will play home games without fans in 2020 unless something changes. The Giants and Jets released a joint statement on Monday citing New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy's announcement that there should be no outdoor gatherings of more than 500 people. The rest of the NFL should now follow the Giants and Jets' lead and bar all fans from attending games in 2020.

In addition to the general interest of public health, any team that was able to play with fans would have a competitive advantage over any team that was forced to play in an empty stadium. Sports without fans felt weird at first, but the world has had no choice but to adapt. Football teams can and will do the same. If the NFL plans to have a full schedule with teams traveling city to city, they can't have some with an actual homefield advantage.

On top of that, if the NFL leaves this up to individual teams some owners are going to try and have fans at games. If you were going to allow some teams to have fans, they would have to share any revenue with any team that wasn't able to have fans, right?

Imagine teams in Florida and Texas and any other coronavirus hotspots inviting thousands of people to a single location for four hours on every other Sunday. It seems like a disaster waiting to happen, but let's not focus on how it is impossible for people to socially distance in a long security line.

It's as simple as teams not being allowed to legally have a home field advantage. It's unfair. And we wouldn't want that. Especially for the Giants and Jets, who are being punished for living in New Jersey. They've been through enough.