GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) -- While the Packers played football…
"We missed the flyover and the national anthem," Evan Vandenelzen said.
Thousands of fans played the waiting game.
"It's already 7-0," Keenan Stellingworth said. "We've missed half the game already."
Many Packers faithful say they waited nearly an hour in long lines to get into Lambeau Field prior to Monday night's home opener.
Some stretched from the stadium to restaurants across the street.
"This is by far the worst I've ever seen it," Green Bay-based fan Mark Klemp said. "And it's a new section. … but we've been here 45 minutes in line. You get to see the flyover and stuff which is cool. But you wanna be inside the stadium to see the flyby. That'd be the cool part."
The Packers are only accepting digital tickets and have reported a staffing shortage to start the season.
But the team says that wasn't the full reason why lines were so long.
"We just had a lot of late arriving people that simply had to take that time to get through," Packers Director of Public Affairs Aaron Popkey said.
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The team advises fans to get in line as soon as possible to avoid large crowds. Lambeau Field now shoots off fireworks an hour before each game.
"When you hear those fireworks and you're nearby, head to the gate and use the gate that's listed on your ticket," Popkey said.
Monday night was the first full-capacity regular season game in almost two years, so the Packers believe fans are still getting back into the swing of things.
"Maybe people have to get their phones figured out first or whatever, but I don't know," Klemp said. "It's not working in this new section."
The Packers are hosting a job fair this Thursday in an effort to obtain more employees.
