How Covid-19 changed Super Bowl LV

Written by: Isabelle Hendrich, staff writer 

TAMPA, Fla.-On Sunday, Feb. 7, Tampa Bay Buccaneers faced off against the Kansas City Chiefs for Super Bowl LV.

The Pepsi Super Bowl LV half-time show featured music artist: The Weeknd. Due to coronavirus, a smaller stage was built on the field.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the first NFL team in history to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium. Their home stadium is the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Fla. 

Despite the Kansas City Chiefs winning the coin toss, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won with a score of 31 to 9. 

The Raymond James Stadium has a capacity of 65,890 people, but only 22,000 were allowed to be in the stadium. 7,500 of the allotted tickets were given to health care workers from the Tampa Bay area who had been vaccinated for Covid-19. 

Due to limited seating, ticket prices for the Super Bowl ranged anywhere from $4,115 to $18,450 according to GameTime. Some tickets sold by Ticketmaster were as high as $40,000. 

Furthermore, a few health-safety procedures at Super Bowl LV consisted of masks at all times, physical distancing of six feet, and seats arranged in pods for each group of ticket holders. 

Along with these coronavirus precautions, staff was required to have their temperatures checked. Touchless ticket scanners were implemented throughout the stadium, and sanitizer stations were set up intermittently around the stadium. 

In addition, the food sold at Raymond James Stadium was conveniently packaged and covered to limit contact between customer and seller. Along with this, there was also a fan isolation area if someone was feeling sick during the game. 

Although the coronavirus limited fans from seeing the Super Bowl LV in person, many were able to watch it online through CBS. The Super Bowl, like many other events this year, have been different, but still enjoyable. 

Isabelle Hendrich is a communication major and history minor at Bryan College. Besides running, Isabelle likes to read and do crafts. She is also a triplet whose siblings, Benjamin and Savannah, are also attending Bryan College.