DENVER (KDVR) — If you’re planning on heading to a Nuggets or Avalanche game at Ball Arena this season, you’ll need to bring your mask and wear it both inside, and outside the arena.
At least, that’s what your ticket says.
Fans told the Problem Solvers Kroenke Sports and Entertainment’s mask policy at Ball Arena is barely being enforced so far this fall.
“That was not the case,” Jason Maybee said. “It was certainly not enforced.”
Maybee is a diehard Avalanche fan, and couldn’t wait to attend Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Blues.
According to Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, masks are required at all times unless fans are actively eating and drinking.
That includes in the parking lot, concession areas, and at seats.
Television broadcasts from Saturday night showed masks were few and far between, and Maybee said that was the case from his vantage point as well.
“My section sat about 25, 30 people, and I saw two masks once it filled up,” he said.
Maybee said staff members were wearing masks, but doing little to enforce it among fans.
“I did notice Ball Arena staff, every single person had a mask on,” he said. “Concessions, security, usher, everybody staff-wise had one on, but I did not see one interaction asking people to mask up.”
Large, indoor gatherings have proven to increase COVID transmission, with masks helping stop the spread.
“Masks, as they have done for the past year and a half, do a great job reducing the amount of aerosol that comes out, and reducing the amount of infectious aerosol that you breath in,” University of Denver Aerosol Scientist Alex Huffman.
Huffman said he’s not surprised to see a mask policy in place, at least on paper.
“In an arena where people are shouting and screaming and being really excited about the game, that just means more aerosol is coming out,” he said. “And that means the risk in the nearby area is that much higher.”
Maybee said he’s fully vaccinated, and was not terribly concerned by the lack of enforcement, but said it shouldn’t be a rule if it’s not going to be enforced.
“I have no problem wearing a mask at Ball Arena, so I think they should enforce it if they’re going to post it,” Maybee said.
Emails to Kroenke Sports and Entertainment were not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.