Ohio Governor Mike DeWine offered some semblance of hope that fans might be allowed into FirstEnergy Stadium for Cleveland Browns games later this fall.
In an interview on “News 5 at 6” on WEWS Channel 5 in Cleveland, DeWine even left the door open for a limited number of fans in the Dawg Pound for Cleveland’s home opener on Sept. 17th against the in-state rival Cincinnati Bengals.
“It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that we can do this on a small scale,” DeWine said.
The Browns submitted the FirstEnergy Stadium Responsible Restart Plan for approval by DeWine in late August. DeWine did not directly reference the specific plan by name but alluded to aspects of the proposal, which include seating in small pods, closed concourses and assigned quadrants of the stadium with limited gate and parking access.
“The Browns have come up, as have the Bengals, with a very good plan. I don’t have any doubt that the Browns can handle fans, a much smaller number of fans but handle them in the stadium,” DeWine said.
The Browns petition for approval includes allowing up to 20 percent of capacity inside FirstEnergy Stadium, which has a seating capacity for Browns games of 67,895. That would permit just under 14,000 fans for game days.
