LOS ANGELES • The National Football League (NFL), the only major North American sporting league so far largely unaffected by the coronavirus pandemic, has insisted it is on course to begin its season on time in September.
"We plan announcing late next week the full regular season schedule that begins with kick-off on Sept 10 and culminates with the Super Bowl in Tampa, Florida (on) Feb 7, 2021," spokesman Brian McCarthy said in an e-mail to Reuters.
Each team is expected to play 16 regular season games as per usual, though the league is evaluating contingency plans should this prove untenable, according to multiple media outlets.
It has also yet to announce whether fans will be allowed to attend games.
However, that prospect looks slim, given the warnings from Dr Anthony Fauci, the top American disease specialist who is leading the US response to the Covid-19 crisis, as well as leading politicians like California governor Gavin Newsom and his New York counterpart Andrew Cuomo.
While other major sporting leagues, including the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Baseball (MLB), have shut down with no restart date on the horizon, the NFL has not had to scramble to save its schedule.
The previous season only ended in early February, shortly before the outbreak in the US became a full-blown crisis. And there is another month before mini-camps and off-season workouts are set to commence, although they are all expected to be conducted virtually.
Still, NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent told the Associated Press last week the league is doing "reasonable and responsible planning" regarding health and safety issues, especially since America is the worst-hit country in the world, with over 1.16 million cases and 67,000 deaths as of yesterday.
Some of the contingency plans the league is considering would be to postpone the start of the season until mid-October, according to Sports Business Journal, while no bye weeks has also been brought up.
The NFL, however, has no plans to host all its teams and personnel in a secure, centralised location like Las Vegas or the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, which is what the NBA and MLB are considering so as to get their stalled seasons under way again, reported ESPN.
REUTERS
