The United Center received permission from city and state government officials to welcome Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Tuesday left open the possibility the city might loosen COVID-19 restrictions and allow a limited number of fans to attend Blackhawks and Chicago Bulls games at the United Center before their seasons end. The new Phase Four rules, effective immediately, allow the Bulls and Blackhawks to close their seasons before roughly 5,250 fans per game — 25% of the United Center’s capacity. The Blackhawks and Bulls will take a phased-in approach to hosting fans. The City of Chicago officially announced Thursday that fans will be allowed back into the United Center for Blackhawks and Bulls games at 25 percent capacity, beginning on May 7. The Bulls and Blackhawks have played without fans at the United Center since their seasons started in December. Cubs and White Sox fans will be allowed to return to the stands this spring, but what about Bulls and Blackhawks fans? Bowman on fans at the United Center: "People would love to get fans involved, but I'm not in those discussions. The Chicago Blackhawks reopened the United Center to 3,820 fans Sunday night, for a 4-2 victory over the Dallas Stars. On Friday, the San Jose Sharks announced they would allow fans back by the end of April, and that left the Blackhawks as the last U.S.-based NHL team without fans in the building. The Blackhawks will look to create a “frictionless” in-game experience and expand their fan-base demographics, even while the United Center remains empty for now. Capacity is set at 25%, or about 4,000. “We feel like we might be plateauing and even, dare to dream, going down,” Lightfoot said, referring to daily cases. The United Center received permission from city and state government officials to welcome fans back to the arena for Chicago Blackhawks and Chicago Bulls home games beginning May 7, … Once fans were settled in, the Hawks put on a show. Their regular-season schedules are slated to wrap up in May. Beginning May 1, the teams will host a few hundred player family members … The Chicago Blackhawks and Bulls will be allowed to have fans attend games at the United Center beginning May 7. The Cubs and White Sox played in front of no fans all last season and it's unclear whether any spectators will be in attendance to start the 2021 season. That means all 24 U.S. NHL teams have opened their doors to fans again; Chicago was the last team to receive permission from city and state government officials.