By Mya Finn
2020 has brought changes to the NFL season that are completely unprecedented. No other season has been so affected by incidents occurring in the country than this season, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.
Lots of changes are coming to the NFL to deal with the pandemic, many of which will have an effect on your experience as a fan. Here’s what you need to know about changes to come in the NFL in 2020.
Players Sick and Dropping Out
The NFL has suffered a significant reduction in players this year, and some coaches have also been affected by the virus. While players may often be able to come back to playing after getting Covid, many are worried enough about the virus to have dropped out of the season all together. There are fewer players in the NFL this season than in previous seasons, and it may be that even more will drop out before the season is over.
Travel and Lodging is Changing
Staying in hotels is considered to be one of the most dangerous aspects of traveling with a sports team. Therefore, the NFL is making a big change in how they travel. Many teams are planning to travel on game day.
That means that they will fly on the same day they play, which is practically unheard of for good reason. Players are much more likely to injure themselves when they have been stiff in a plane for some time before they play. Flying in a plane is also not a very good mental or physical prep for playing your best game.
However, with no better solution to the hotel problem, flying on Game Day remains the best solution for many players. This technique works best when the game is at night and players can spend a few hours stretching and getting ready for the game after they fly to the location.
Teams find that they have better control of potential exposure using this technique. It may be that most of the game schedule this year will be scheduled at night to accommodate teams that fly on game day.
Fewer Games
One solution that has been suggested but not necessarily taken up at this time is to simply play fewer games during this 2020 season. By dividing the number of games in half, players would have two weeks in between games, which means that they could quarantine for the coronavirus if they thought they might have it and only have to miss one game.
With limited resources available for the NFL thanks to fewer income sources and reduced income from TV screenings, fewer games will enable the resources to be best used to keep players safe and provide excellent television coverage to encourage ongoing revenue.
Schedule Geographically
If players don’t have to travel as long, they can easily avoid staying in a hotel or traveling in a plane on game day. It’s not possible that every game will be able to be scheduled this way, but if earlier matchups are scheduled geographically, it could make it much easier and safer for the games to be played.
If non-division games were scheduled geographically, entire groups could be kept completely separate from one another, dramatically reducing the risk of significant community spread across the NFL.
Alternate the AFC and the NFC
Scheduling alternating AFC and NFC enables fans to get 8 football games each week, which will satisfy them and keep them engaged while continuing to generate revenue. However, these two separate camps can stay away from each other so that there won’t be cross-contamination and spread of the virus.
Scheduling it this way enables each team enough time between games to determine whether a player has Corona, reducing the chances that the virus will be spread in games as well. This may be the best compromise between reducing the chances of player exposure and keeping fans happy.
Betting is Going to get Erratic
This may be one of the hardest seasons of the NFL for gamblers to predict. No matter how experienced you are in making NFL predictions. Expect some dramatic sports handicapper steps to try to even out the betting on teams that are likely to have very clear differences anind their potential to win.
This might make it a fun year if you are playing a light betting game, but if you are used to a winning season, it might be a good idea to invest in professional help to make great decisions about this very strange NFL season.
Get Ready for Changes
The NFL is not going to be the same this year as it has been in previous years. Like everything else in our lives, COVID-19 has had a dramatic effect on sports. However, with some changes and adaptability, the 2020 NFL season should still be a lot of fun to watch.
