Tag: Mark Murphy

Packers president: NFL’s testing protocols ‘most comprehensive’ in sports

From Mark Murphy, the Packers president: “I do think it is worth it to play this season because of the confidence I have in the plan that our medical experts have established.”

Green Bay Packers team president Mark Murphy is confident the NFL has the “most comprehensive” testing protocols in place for the start of the 2020 season, giving the NFL season a real chance to work without an actual bubble structure.

The NFL has talked about creating a “virtual bubble” with rigorous testing and player conduct protocols. Murphy expanded on the idea, and the testing measures put in place, in his monthly question and answer post at Packers.com.

“The league’s testing protocol is the most comprehensive of all the testing programs in professional sports. Players will be required to test negative three times in a four-day period before being allowed to enter the facility. Once they are in the facility, players will be tested daily for two weeks,” Murphy explained. “If the team’s positive rate is less than 5% after two weeks, the testing will drop down to every other day. If a player tests positive, he will immediately be removed from the facility to focus on treatment and minimize the risk of the virus spreading to other players.”

Murphy also stressed the importance of physical distancing, sanitized hands and mask-wearing indoors. Also, all players will wear a tracking device to help the Packers know which players are distancing correctly and help contact tracing should the virus affect a team.

Like the NFL, Murphy remains cautiously optimistic that the league can pull it off, even as MLB struggles with postponements and cancelations due to the spreading virus.

“I have confidence, though, in our medical experts and believe that we have put together the protocols that will allow us to complete the season,” Murphy wrote. “Doug Collins, our director of security/risk management, is serving as our infection control officer. He’s done a great job keeping us updated on all the protocols and has ensured that our facilities are as safe as possible.”

The Packers will also have several different tiers of testing protocols for individuals working for the team and around the team during the season. Those working closest with players, coaches and other personnel will be tested on a regular basis.

Together, Murphy believes the team and the NFL have the protocols in place to play a season. And he’s confident that playing the season is the right decision.

“I do think it is worth it to play this season because of the confidence I have in the plan that our medical experts have established,” Murphy wrote.

Murphy also touched on potential competitive imbalances between teams with varying attendance rules at home games but brushed off the impact of such a situation. The Packers, for instance, are planning for a maximum of 10,000-12,000 fans at Lambeau Field, and that’s if any fans are allowed at games. Other teams, like the two New York teams, won’t have fans in 2020.

“Although the situation is inequitable, I do not think the teams with fans in the stadiums will have a big advantage,” Murphy wrote.

The Packers are scheduled to open the season against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Sept. 13.

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Packers optimistic about financial future despite challenges of coronavirus

The Green Bay Packers won’t be reporting fiscal year revenue of over a half-billion dollars at this time next year, but the team is actually optimistic they won’t have to dip into their growing reserve fund to weather the storm of challenges …

The Green Bay Packers won’t be reporting fiscal year revenue of over a half-billion dollars at this time next year, but the team is actually optimistic they won’t have to dip into their growing reserve fund to weather the storm of challenges presented by the current coronavirus pandemic.

Team president Mark Murphy is still “hopeful” the Packers won’t need to take money from the fund, which now totals over $400 million.

“The purpose of the corporate reserve fund is emergencies. When we put it together, we thought it would be most likely a prolonged strike or a lockout. We didn’t think of a pandemic,” Murphy told Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated. “Hopefully, this will not be a long-term impact on the organization but if it does, we do have it there and we may use it. Right now, it doesn’t look like we’ll have to.”

Murphy told Huber that the team improved its liquidity to help get through the pandemic, which has drastically altered the offseason and is threatening to drastically alter the regular season. In fact, the Packers are preparing for significantly reduced capacity at games and the possibility of no fans at games, plus other revenue-reducing factors, such as the lack of fans at training camp and the cancelation of the preseason.

Helping the Packers navigate the crisis is the league’s lucrative television contract, and also the national revenue sources that help cover most of the team’s major expenses, such as player costs. Even reduced capacity at games – Murphy estimated the possibility of 10,000 to 12,000 fans at Lambeau Field – would help the bottom line.

Although the Packers are expecting revenue to take a potentially major hit over the next fiscal year, the team believes they can get through a difficult season without significant financial consequences. Even if the monetary situation does get dire for whatever reason, the Packers can use the fund to mitigate the damage.

Murphy said the Packers, who don’t have a single owner, have built up the reserve fund over the last 10-15 years in case of an emergency.

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Packers CEO Says Notre Dame/Wisconsin Remains in Lambeau

Notre Dame and Wisconsin are set to play in Lambeau Field this fall, a game that remains to be played their according to a man in the know.

Over the past week there has been speculation that Notre Dame’s Shamrock Series game against Wisconsin would be moved from historic Lambeau Field to Notre Dame Stadium.

I’m not one to say there is no way that doesn’t happen when it’s all said and done, but as of now that is not the case.

When asked about it this weekend, Green Bay Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy made it pretty clear that the game remains schedule for Lambeau Field.

That’s not to say that something might not change at the end of the day but Notre Dame and Wisconsin meeting in Lambeau Field is a lot different than the Irish and Navy flying their teams across the Atlantic Ocean to play, like they were scheduled to do up until the last week.

As cool as it will be to see the two teams meet and in a historic venue like Lambeau, a home-and-home with trips to Notre Dame Stadium and Camp Randall are what I’d sign up for ten times out of ten.