NFL stadiums are preparing to host limited-capacity crowds for the upcoming season, but many fans don’t plan on watching football in-person this year.

A survey of over 1,000 fans found that 41.2% of football fans wouldn’t attend an NFL game because of fears about contracting the coronavirus, according to Casino.org. Given the opportunity, 52.3% of fans said they would go to a game.

The survey was conducted between July 24-25.

People who identified themselves as fans of the San Francisco 49ers appear to be the most reluctant about returning to the stadium with 38.3% saying they wouldn’t attend games because of coronavirus fears. Next are fans of the New England Patriots, 35.4% of whom said the coronavirus would keep them away from the stadium.

California has the most recorded coronavirus cases of any state with over 600,000, according to the latest data compiled by The New York Times. Massachusetts has the third-most coronavirus deaths per capita in the United States.

Fans of the Arizona Cardinals are the least concerned with only 15% saying the coronavirus would keep them out of the stadium. Arizona is second in the entire country in recorded coronavirus cases per capita. The state has averaged 1,281 new diagnosed cases per day for the last week.

Not all of the respondents were fans of a particular team and none of the teams were represented by enough fans in the poll to make the individual numbers statistically significant.

Nineteen percent of Buffalo Bills fans said coronavirus concerns would keep them from going to games. Just under 20% of Indianapolis Colts fans said the same.

Only 11% of Cardinals fans said a mandatory mask mandate would prevent them from going to games. Fans of the Dallas Cowboys lead the way in that department with 26.5% of the fans surveyed saying a mask requirement would stop them from attending a game in-person.

The Cowboys revealed their Safe Stadium Policy for AT&T Stadium for the upcoming season, noting that all fans 10 years old and older will be required to wear masks when they aren’t actively eating or drinking. Dallas will host fans in “pods,” which consist of family and friends that are socially distanced from other groups.

Dallas’ AT&T Stadium is 40 miles from Toyota Stadium, which hosted nearly 3,000 fans for an MLS game Wednesday.

Only 25.3% of Republican football fans said coronavirus concerns would keep them from going to games, while 51.8% of Democrats said they wouldn’t be going to any stadiums.

Overall, fears of attending sporting events appear to have changed in the last few months. A Seton Hall Sports Poll at the Stillman School of Business in April found that 72% of fans said they wouldn't attend live sporting events before a coronavirus vaccine was available.

The NBA and WNBA returned in late July, playing every game in a central location without fans. MLB has been playing games in empty venues, and it appears unlikely that baseball fans will attend games in 2020.

The NFL is going forward with its originally scheduled Sept. 10 start date after canceling the entire preseason. In late July, the online sportsbook BetOnline set the odds of the Super Bowl still taking place on Feb. 7, 2021 as planned at -200.

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
General view of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Los Angeles Rams on December 29, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images
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