The Tampa Bay Rowdies will be joined by a small contingent of players’ families and fans at Al Lang Stadium for Saturday night’s home opener.
Team president Lee Cohen said around 100 fans, with all attendees socially distanced, can be “easily brought into the building under stringent protocols.” The stadium’s capacity is 7,227.
But don’t expect price gouging on these limited tickets for Saturday’s game against Atlanta United 2, or for the remainder of July. Cohen said the games will be invite only and that the Rowdies have been working with their fan groups — Ralph’s Mob and Skyway Casuals — to ensure some Rowdies supporters are in the stands Saturday night.
“By being closed for all intents and purposes for the three games in July, we’re really controlling our controllables,” Cohen said. “I think that’s the biggest lesson that we’ve learned — try to control as much as you can control because there’s gonna be so many other things you can’t.”
Cohen expects a group of 50 to 70 fans with Ralph’s Mob and 20 to 40 fans associated with the Skyway Casuals. Within those fan groups, smaller bubbles will be organized and those fans will be dispersed throughout the stadium.
A change to the fan experience that should come as no surprise is attendees being required to wear masks. Face coverings are mandatory for entry and must be worn while fans are away from their seats. Only once fans arrive at their seats can they remove their masks.
Cohen also said the plan for Saturday is to be “as ticketless as possible” and to reduce touch points, like having tickets scanned or a purse inspected. Temperature readings may also be in place but Cohen recognizes the measure isn’t 100% accurate in the Florida heat.
“If we’re not doing correct, accurate readings, we may have to look at a different route,” Cohen said.
There’s no need to try to sneak food into the stadium to avoid high prices because all vendors will be closed — fans are encouraged to bring in their own food and water.
The Rowdies’ first two games under the resumption of play are at home, but when they travel to Birmingham, Alabama, to face Legion FC in three weeks, they’ll be taking a bus.
“We’re going to control everything we control, and I can’t control on an airplane who I’m sitting next to,” Cohen said. “But I can control on a bus who we are sitting next to.”
To reduce travel, teams in the USL Championship were placed in groups that took geography into account. The Rowdies were placed in Group H with the Charleston Battery, Atlanta United 2 and Miami FC and will play each of those teams four times.
Cohen said the team would bus to Miami normally, which accounts for two of the Rowdies eight road games.
Players and team personnel are also going through weekly COVID-19 testing in accordance with USL Championship health and wellness protocols, Cohen said.
The July games are seemingly being treated as a trial period to see how the rest of the season, which last 13 weeks, can go forward. At the end of July and into early August, changes can be made, including fan capacity.
Cohen emphasized that planning is very much a collaborative effort.
“There’s nothing that’s a team decision anymore,” Cohen said. “Every step that we do is in conjunction with both notifying state and local authorities and the league that we participate in.”
Those decision makers have come together to put in place a shortened season that resumes Friday night across the league and Saturday night for the Rowdies more than four months after the season was halted.
“COVID is teaching us you got to be fluid and you got to be able to bend,” Cohen said. “If you can’t bend, you’re gonna break.
“So right now, we bent with week 1, and hopefully we’ll see the benefits of it.”
Contact Kyle Wood at kwood@tampabay.com. Follow him @Kkylewood.
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