NFL announces 22K fans can attend Super Bowl LV

The NFL announced Friday that 22,000 fans will be allowed to attend Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Feb. 7.

Roughly 7,500 will be vaccinated health care workers invited as guests of the league. The other 14,500 will be paid attendees.

Those who attend will be required to follow mask-wearing protocols and sit in socially distant pods.

The health care workers must have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. While most of the invited guests will come from the Tampa area, each NFL team will select health care workers to send to the big game.

"These dedicated health care workers continue to put their own lives at risk to serve others, and we owe them our ongoing gratitude," commissioner Roger Goodell said in a release. "We hope in a small way that this initiative will inspire our country and recognize these true American heroes. This is also an opportunity to promote the importance of vaccination and appropriate health practices, including wearing masks in public settings."

Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, typically seats 66,000.

The Super Bowl participants will be determined Sunday when the Buccaneers visit the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game and the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs host the Buffalo Bills in the AFC title game.