Weekend trial of fans at Japan’s Yokohama Stadium hailed a success

A three-day trial at Japan’s Yokohama Stadium of higher fan capacity limits than permitted under current Coronavirus precautions has been used as a testing ground for next year’s Olympics.

With Tokyo preparing to host the Summer Olympics next year, and the Yokohama Stadium to stage baseball and softball during the Games, the weekend trial, from Friday to Sunday, was the first in a series of test events.

With venues with a capacity of more than 10,000 attendees currently having a 59% cap on attendances, the Japanese Government's Coronavirus task force allowed larger attendances for three Nippon Professional Baseball games hosted by the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.

Increasing the venue’s capacity each day, Sunday’s game drew a crowd of 27,850 to the 32,402-seat stadium.

The trial was carried out by the Kanagawa prefectural and Yokohama municipal governments, as well as mobile game developer DeNA, which operates the Stadium as a home for the BayStars.

Tickets for the games were discounted by 35% in an effort to encourage fans back to the stadium.

The Tokyo 2020 organising committee had a 10-man inspection team in place at the venue, studying how it will accommodate fans in the era of COVID-19.

As reported by the Olympic Channel, Tokyo 2020 Games Delivery Officer, Nakamura Hidemasa advised “we saw great teamwork from the people onsite combined with the latest technology available at an official Olympic venue.

“There is still plenty of work ahead but at the Games next summer, I expect the type of teamwork we saw (at the venue) and cutting-edge technology to be on full display. It will help us host a safe and secure Games for athletes and spectators alike. There is a lot we can take from this. At the end of the day it’s the people who will make it happen. And you have to like what we saw.”

The results of the trial are set to be shared with the national government, which leads a commission on COVID-19 countermeasures for the Games with the metropolitan government and Tokyo 2020. At Yokohama Stadium, fans were screened at the gates for face masks, body temperature, and hand sanitising. They also entered and exited the stadium in blocks in an effort to avoid crowding.

The latest camera technology was utilised to track the movement of aerosols in the stands, while fans were able to judge which areas of the venue were crowded at any time via an app.

Executives from the Nippon Professional Baseball and football’s J-League held a meeting today to discuss if the cap on the number of spectators can be eased, with further trials to be held at baseball games on Saturday and Sunday at Tokyo Dome, and Saturday’s J League Cup final in Tokyo.

Images: Yokohama Stadium (top, credit: Tokyo 2020) and fans at the venue (below, credit: KYODO).