The regular season is still months away, but it would be a great idea for the powers to be to discuss the possibility of the season being affected by the coronavirus.
Several other sporting leagues had talked about having games, but without fans, but it never got to that point after athletes in the NBA started testing positive and the virus began to get even worse to the public.
Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank is among those that still believe a 16-game season could happen, but he thinks it will have to go down without fans.
In an interview with NBC Sports’ Peter King — Blank stated while that there is a definite layer of uncertainty for the NFL, he expressed some hope of 16 games still being played.
“IF I HAD TO SPECULATE NOW, AND I USE THE WORD SPECULATE BECAUSE THAT’S REALLY ALL IT IS, I WOULD SAY YES,” ARTHUR BLANK SAID, VIA NBC SPORTS. “ONLY BECAUSE IT’S SO FAR AWAY FROM WHERE WE ARE TODAY.”
Over the weekend, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported that “everything is on the table” looking ahead at the 2020 season, including canceling the season.
Everything is on the table for now; there’s no other way to approach this unprecedented challenge to planning and logistics. Still, the NFL needs to be proactive about identifying every potential “what if?” question and coming up with a plan for every possible permutation.
So, yes, it’s possible that games will be played in empty stadiums. It’s possible that some teams won’t be able to play in their home markets. It’s possible that no games will be played at all.
Theoretically, it’s possible that the NFL will build in the middle of nowhere a corona-free campus where all players, coaches, trainers, doctors, broadcasters, officials, etc. would spend the entire season sequestered from the rest of the world, with games played on a series of fields from which the games would be televised, with no one else present. (I haven’t heard that this is a possibility, but it’s one that the league definitely should be considering.)”
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It’s basically a wait-and-see type of scenario since there are still months in-between to think a worst-case scenario.
The NFL Draft in Las Vegas has already been shutdown and teams ability to conduct certain things on players has drastically been changed and no one truly knows when and if things will ever get better.
