When the NFL drops the 2020 NFL schedule, it will look as normal as ever.
However, there is nothing normal about what we’re all going through in this country as well as the rest of the world due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a report from John Ourand and Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal, NFL executives have discussed contingency plans that include delaying the Super Bowl just one week.
- The NFL could move the Super Bowl in Tampa Bay from Feb. 7 to another Sunday in February. The story said the league wants to keep the Super Bowl in February, meaning Feb. 28 would be possible.
- The NFL could eliminate the bye week between the conference championships and Super Bowl. The Pro Bowl is usually played in that bye week, and if the bye week is eliminated the Pro Bowl would be too.
- The season could be delayed until Thursday, Oct. 15.
- The NFL could shift the schedule for two early weeks to the end of the season. A third week would have teams against opponents with the same bye week, so that week could be erased and all regular-season bye weeks would be eliminated.
Even if the league has these contingency plans in place, it doesn’t mean everything will be handled accordingly. Certain states could restrict events and put the league in a difficult spot of figuring out what to do with certain teams and how they will play games.
If California decides they don’t want games to be held, it would drastically affect the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams who would essentially have to play 16 road games.
Any projected starting date to the 2020 season is pretty much up in the air right now.