There have been coaches and players that have been vocal about the NFL's attendance policy in 2020 and how it is unfair to have different attendance rules across the league. Despite the complaints he's received, commissioner Roger Goodell doubles down and says there's no competitive advantage for teams that are able to have fans.

“I would probably take issue with the fact that it’s a huge competitive advantage,” Goodell said in response to a question that acknowledged in its framing the obvious existence of a dramatic edge for teams with fans. “As you know, our stadium sizes are different across the league. The attendance is different on a normal season. We do not see and our clubs do not see a competitive advantage at all whether fans are in one stadium or another.”

Due to the concerns with COVID-19, stadiums in the NFL will have attendance guidelines. Some teams are able to host fans at a limited or near-full capacity, while others are unable to host any fans.

Both Mike Zimmer and Sean McDermott are coaches that have expressed that the league's inconsistent attendance policy creates an unfair advantage. At the same time, Goodell believes it doesn't since teams have different attendance numbers during a normal season.

However, what Goodell fails to realize is that there's never a case where a team has had zero fans in attendance. Instead of adopting the same idea as the MLB or NBA where fans aren't allowed at any games, the NFL has chosen to give teams the option to choose.

Of course, each team has to follow their state or local government's guidelines before coming to a decision on fan attendance. While Roger Goodell doesn't see an advantage for teams with fans, there will likely be coaches and players that continue to be critical of the decision throughout the season.