With a little luck, pro football will see its first kickoff in early September as planned
The NFL released the official schedule for the upcoming season to start on September 10 yesterday, and, based on what was presented, the league is expecting to make a full comeback with no delays, despite the coronavirus pandemic. The first game to open the season will have the current champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, playing against the Houston Texas. The game schedule presented by the NFL has its usual duration of 17 weeks and no notable updates.
There will be no changes to the league due to the coronavirus pandemic for now; however, the NFL will also leave the door open for required changes along the way. That’s what NFL executive vice-president of football operations Troy Vincent said on NFL Network when he confirmed the information. There are no changes in durations nor schedules, but there will be a change in locations outside of the US. The league had five different games planned to take place abroad, which are now being rescheduled due to the limitations that the coronavirus pandemic had placed to regular mobility – four in London and one in Mexico City.
“This is the schedule,” Vincent said. “We’re excited about this schedule. We do our proper contingency planning, but no, there is no other schedule.” According to some reports in the US, it seems to be that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell requested all teams to not engage in comments regarding the possible effects of the coronavirus in the upcoming season.
So far, there hasn’t been any announcement of other measures taken by the NFL to handle the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which demands new safety rules of sanitation and social distancing. But Website Sports Business Journal reported that the NFL is considering a few measures in case changes are necessary, like starting the season one month late on October 15 or delaying the Super Bowl three weeks after its set date of February 7.
