The NFL is planning to conduct the 2020 season without any interruptions, but amid the coronavirus pandemic, there’s no guarantee. One of the biggest challenges comes with how games will be operated, especially considering that football is a full-on contact sport and the most important thing is the safety of the players.
Teams are set to suffer substantial revenue losses this season if fans aren’t allowed at stadiums. Obviously, the most important thing is the health and safety of everyone involved — players, coaches, fans, stadium workers.
But Bears president and CEO Ted Phillips told reporters that the organization is confident that fans will be at Soldier Field this season, although it’s not a guarantee.
“We’re still extremely hopeful, confident, that we’re gonna have a season with fans,” he said, via the Sun-Times. “It’s only good business practice to look at contingencies, and if we’ve learned anything in the past three months it’s expect the unexpected… But we’re still extremely hopeful.”
If the Bears were to allow fans at Soldier Field, what would that look like? Given social distancing guidelines, it would certainly mean a reduced capacity at the stadium. But Phillips didn’t go into details about that.
While the likelihood of fans at NFL games this season feels like a pipe dream, at this point all we want is football back on our screens. Even if that means fans taking it in from the safety of their own homes.
[vertical-gallery id=447919]
[lawrence-related id=448929,448840,448912,448864,448863,448847]