The NBA’s Atlanta Hawks announced plans to increase attendance for postseason play to 7,625 fans, approximately 45 percent of State Farm Arena’s full capacity. The plan received approval by both the NBA and the Georgia Department of Public Health.
The Hawks opened the 2020-21 season with no fans in attendance before increasing capacity to 1,300 fans on January 26 and later increasing to 3,000 fans for the second half of the season on March 13.
The Hawks will offer a 500-person vaccinated fan section, in which fans with proof of vaccination can be seated without social distancing. Additional lower bowl seating will be added to the East side of the building as plexiglass will be added behind player benches and other areas throughout the building for additional safety. Masks will continue to be required for all fans inside the arena.
State Farm Arena introduced its “Safety Six” protocols to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, developed with input from industry experts in healthcare, live events, hospitality, and food service, including Sharecare and Emory Healthcare. State Farm Arena was also the first facility to receive the Sharecare Health Security VERIFIED designation, an extensive certification system with 140+ expert-validated standards which establish a consistent global baseline for health security, and recently announced a partnership with The Clorox Company making Clorox the team’s official cleaning and disinfecting product partner.
“We are excited to safely welcome more fans back to State Farm Arena for our postseason run. A significant percentage of our members, staff and fans have been vaccinated and are eager to support our team together as we appear in the postseason for the first time in four years,” said Hawks chief executive officer Steve Koonin. “We would like to thank for our friends at Emory Healthcare, Sharecare and the Georgia Department of Public Health who advised us on the safest ways to increase capacity.”
