Alabama spring football game draws 47,218 fans, largest U.S. sports crowd since start of COVID pandemic

If Alabama fans are allowed to attend a game, they are going to go. If you didn't know that already, Saturday made it clear.

Alabama held its spring game Saturday with 47,218 fans in attendance. That's the most fans at a sporting event in the United States since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It looked a little something like this:

Alabama is far from the first U.S. sports team to allow fans to attend games. Every MLB team has allowed fans in limited capacity in 2021. Most teams are allowing stadiums to be filled between 10 and 32%. 

The lone exception to that is the Texas Rangers, who allowed Globe Life Field to operate at full capacity on opening day. The Rangers hosted 38,238 fans on opening day.

Alabama cleared to host 50% fans at spring game

Last Friday, Alabama announced Bryant-Denny Stadium would be allowed to host fans at 50% capacity during Saturday's game. Bryant-Denny Stadium can hold up to 101,821 fans, meaning half capacity would sit somewhere around 50,000 fans. Actual attendance fell short of that, and Alabama did not refer to the spring game as a sellout.

Alabama is operating under a Safer Apart Order. Masks are no longer mandated in the state, but are strongly encouraged if people are out in public or "in close contact with other people."

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