CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Sports restaurant owners say fans should arrive early and expect some changes as they watch their favorite NFL teams this season.

Sunday, three NFL games are scheduled for 1 p.m., including the Panthers. The owner of Steamers Sports Pub says on weekends like this, his sports pub is usually packed to the max.

“On this particular Sunday, if COVID wasn’t going on, we would be looking at about 350 people,” Steamers Sports Pub owner, Bill Nolan says.

But due to restrictions under Gov. Roy Cooper’s executive order, they can only seat about 170.

“You need to be here at opening to get your seat,” Nolan says. “We open at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday.”

Nolan says workers will be handing out sheets of paper so customers can write their name and claim seats.

“If they get up to go to the restroom, they will put this on their chair and that will mark that this is their chair,” Nolan says.

Nolan isn’t the only one thinking outside the box. Over at Dilworth Neighborhood Grille the owner has a sound system and is planning to buy a projector to put outside on busy game days.

“The projector will hang off the middle beam over here,” Dilworth Neighborhood Grille owner Matt Wohlfarth says as he pointed to his outdoor tent. “It will shoot this way. We will run the cords back and have the speakers and sound equipment over here. And then we will have a cable that runs back to the restaurant to get a signal.”

Both owners say they are reminding customers that even if games run late, they can’t serve alcohol after 11 p.m. due to Cooper’s executive order.

“It’s important we all stick to the rules otherwise he [Cooper] will take us a couple steps backwards, and we don’t want to go back,” Nolan says.

Nolan says it may be different this year, but he’s just happy there is still football.