The Pittsburgh Steelers are still scheduled to play the New York Giants at MetLife stadium in East Rutherford, NJ in week 1 and assuming that Monday night contest ultimately happens, no fans will be allowed to attend it, unless there’s a drastic change in the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in the next several weeks.
On Monday, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced that, due to the ongoing public health crisis, his Executive Order limiting outdoor public gatherings will apply to events at MetLife Stadium until further notice. This decision was reached after careful consideration of the current state of the COVID-19 crisis, in discussions with the Giants and New York Jets, and in consideration of the health and safety of our fans, players and staff, which will continue to be the primary focus for our teams.
With 57 days now remaining until the Steelers 2020 regular season opener against the Giants, it’s hard to imagine that Murphy will change his stance before then and allow some fans to attend that contest. ESPN is still slated to televise the game between the Steelers and Giants as part of a week 1 Monday Night Football doubleheader.
The Steelers and Giants are both still scheduled to start their respective 2020 training camps on July 28 with rookies of both teams maybe reporting for duty as early as Tuesday. As for possible preseason games, the NFL and NFLPA have yet to come to an agreement on how many, if any, will take place in the coming weeks and when. Word at the time of this post is that both sides might agree to have each team play one preseason game in total.
