Steelers Reduce Future Capacity to 2,500 to Comply with Gov. Wolf’s Modified COVID-19 Policy

The Steelers will reduce the number of fans they can host at Heinz Field in the month of December in order to comply with adjusted COVID-19 mitigation guidelines released by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and the Pennsylvania Department of Health on Monday.

The Steelers will host no more than 2,500 fans per game beginning with their Dec. 6 home game against Washington. Thursday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens will not be impacted by the change. The Steelers had been hosting as many 5,500 fans for home games in the months of October and November after playing without fans in September.

With just a 2,500-person capacity, fans in the seating bowl against Washington will be limited to family and friends of players and the organization.

“Our priority remains the health and safety of our players, coaches, staff , gameday workers, and our fans,” team spokesman Burt Lauten said in a statement. “We will adhere to the original protocols for games with fans at Heinz Field and expect approximately 5,550 fans in attendance for Thursday’s game versus the Ravens.”

Wolf did not specifically cite reasons for modifying the limits on event capacity, but explained that the series of changes made to the mitigation rules on Tuesday are in response to growing numbers of positive cases and hospitalizations in the state.

“In December, projections show upwards of 22,000 new COVID cases per day in Pennsylvania, Wolf said. “And we are projected to run out of ICU beds. We must take action to protect our health care system from being compromised.”

The Pitt Panthers, who share Heinz Field with the Steelers, have ended the home portion of their 2020 schedule.