When will NHL fans be able to come back to arenas?

How long will it be until fans will be able to safely attend an NHL game?

The last NHL game I went to was a match up between the New Jersey Devils and the San Jose Sharks. It wasn’t a game most where paying attention to, since by then the Devils and Sharks were firmly out of the playoff picture.

Even though the Devils won the game (surprisingly, even to me) the man takeaway was being able to see Joe Thornton one last time before a seemingly inevitable retirement. If I had known that would be the last hockey game I could attend in person, or even watch, for a while, I might have appreciated it just a bit more.

Yes, the NHL might have released their plan to return to action, but that’s expected to be with empty arenas. In all likelihood, there will be no fans in the stands this season, and maybe even for the rest of this year. There’s still a part of me that’s hoping that changes just so I can go watch.

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So when will things get back to normal? When can games be played in stadiums that aren’t “hub cities”? When can teams travel and not be stuck together in the same hotel for months on end? Most importantly when can fans go to the stadiums again?

For those who watch to want sports live in person a few exciting developments have come forward to give you hope. Last week, Texas was the first state to announce that fans could return to live games.

Of course, they were restricted to outdoor sporting events and only at 25% capacity. The Italian and Spanish soccer leagues are also possibly looking at letting their fans back into stands, at 33% capacity, this summer. The English Premier League, also soccer, is looking at way to bring back fans September the earliest.

It’s worth noting that all three of those soccer league have either resumed their season or have plans to do so in the near future and immediate future. The NHL’s plan, which can be summed up as “maybe we’ll return in late July” isn’t comparable in this situation. First, they have to worry about finding a way to resume place. Secondly, after that is done you can even think of bringing back fans. The NHL hasn’t even cleared that first hurdle yet.

One thing that’s for sure is that the next NHL season won’t begin in the traditional October. That was expected with the late summer season resumption, but could NHL owners be holding out the start of next season in hopes that by time it begins we can have full stadiums again? NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the range for the beginning of next season could be anywhere between November and January. Could the NHL be holding out so it can finally recuperate that lost ticket revenue?

Aside from Texas’s announcement of limited fan attendance, the outlook has looked good for the immediate future. Michigan’s governor said she saw no one way fans can be packed into stadiums when the NFL season begins in September. The NFL itself is still hoping for fans in Week 1, but has contingency plans for both playing without fans and delaying the season until fans are able to come. Just today Steve Balmer, owner of the NBA”s Los Angeles Clippers, said he couldn’t see arenas being opened for “the foreseeable future”.

When will the NHL have fans? There’s no way of telling, although having that “November to January” flexibility in a start date will help. The NHL and its teams would rather hold off an extra month to earn their ticket revenue instead of coming back first fan less and transitioning after the season had started. The NHL’s schedule already is going to differ from not only it’s traditional makeup, but that of other hockey leagues resuming around the world, unless they follow the NHL’s example.

Next up is will fans come back? Recent poll show that only four in ten Americans would go to a live sporting event at the moment. Then again, that poll didn’t account for any protective measures, so it can be assumed that the poll was conducted with packed. Also remember in the immediate aftermath of the last NHL lockout during the 2012-2013 season, attendance not only recovered, but increased.

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We can talk about television contracts all we want, but sports like professional hockey can’t survive without live fans. This season was unprecedented, but fan less arenas can’t become the new norm. Do I know when sports will come back usual? No, but I do know I can’t wait to go back.

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