No fans for Steelers, Eagles home games in immediate future

PITTSBURGH -- Fans won't be allowed to attend pro football games in Pennsylvania for the immediate future.

While the Pittsburgh Steelers told season-ticket holders in an email Thursday that fans would not be allowed at Heinz Field for their first two home games, the Philadelphia Eagles said the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia confirmed the team could not host fans at Lincoln Financial Field until further notice.

"Eagles fans are incredible. They fill the stadium and the support they provide, the energy, the passion, we know how much our players feed off of that. We know how much as an organization we feed off of that," Eagles president Don Smolenski told Dave Spadaro on a podcast. "While we know that in the start of the season that those seats may be empty, we know that they'll be with us in spirit, just as they are all across the country and all across the globe for every Eagles game. They'll be cheering us on and we're going to feed off their energy. We're just going to have to do that a little bit differently, just like we're doing everything a little bit differently here in 2020."

The Eagles are set to host theLos Angeles Ramsin their home opener on Sept. 20, and the Steelers are scheduled to host the Denver Broncos on the same day. The Steelers also won't have fans at the following week's matchup against the Houston Texans.

"We understand and appreciate the dedication of our fans who want to attend games this season. That is why it is disappointing to announce that we will not be able to host fans for our first two home games in September," Steelers president Art Rooney II said in a statement. "We will continue to work on plans to host fans at games when it is deemed safe to proceed."

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger acknowledged earlier Thursday that playing at Heinz Field without fans would be strange. The Steelers practiced at Heinz Field on Saturday night with artificial crowd noise piped into the stadium during live team periods, testing out something the NFL is considering permitting for games this season.

"It's going to be different," Roethlisberger said. "I know we had our practice the other night with the fake crowd noise. I'd be lying if I [said] I wasn't excited to run out of the tunnel after last year in Heinz Field. There's nothing better, and I'll never be able to put it into words and describe to someone who hasn't been able to do it, what it's like to run out at that stadium here at home with the fans screaming and going nuts and the Terrible Towels waving. I was looking forward to that. Obviously, that's going to be different now.

"Playing as long as I have, it's going to be a unique situation, whether there's a few fans or no fans. All that being said, after missing last year, I'm just going to be happy being on the field, playing a game."