Patriots Won't Have Fans at Gillette Stadium for Rest of Season amid COVID-19

The New England Patriots announced in a statement Monday that the team would go without home fans for the remainder of the 2020 season: 

"We have recently been informed that the Governor's Executive Order prohibiting large capacity venues from opening to the public will remain in force for the remainder of the 2020 football and soccer seasons. We understand that the advisory board, Governor Baker and Lt. Governor Polito made this decision with the health and safety of the community in mind."

Gov. Charlie Baker first announced in August that fans wouldn't be permitted at Fenway Park or Gillette Stadium.

"We've had conversations with [the Patriots] and with the Boston Red Sox and we've basically said, 'Look, we're focused at this point on schools and wouldn't plan to do anything with respect anything like that until we get much farther into the fall,'" he told reporters at the time.

The Patriots had been hoping to have fans at 20 percent capacity but accepted Baker's decision.

"Gillette Stadium fully supports the state's position and this decision in the interest of public safety," stadium officials said in a statement in August. "We would have welcomed the opportunity to host fans in August and September, but are hopeful to do so later in the season."

Perhaps Patriots fans aren't upset about that news this season as they might have been in past years, given the team's 2-5 start to the season. The Buffalo Bills (7-2) and Miami Dolphins (5-3) are ahead of the Patriots in the AFC East standings, putting New England closer to a top-five pick in the 2021 draft than a playoff berth this season. 

Still, there's a lot of season left. If the Patriots are going to salvage it, they'll have to do so in an empty Gillette Stadium.