The NBA is in a bubble in Orlando, Florida where the mandate is that if a player exits the state for any reason, they have to quarantine for 14 days.
The NHL just tested more than 800 players for Covid-19 across the league and the amount of players that tested positive was an astounding 0%. But where does that leave fans who plan to attend games in-person from our major sports leagues?
Here’s what the NFL plans to do with masks if you want to attend a game this season.
By the looks of it, you will be required to wear a mask everywhere you go for a pretty long time. That’s just the reality of the situation, whether it’s right or wrong. You won’t be able to go to the local grocery store or Costco without a mask until sometime after the new year.
Those essential businesses will require it. What about the non-essential businesses?
If we’ve learned anything during this global pandemic, it’s that sports, television and movies are all non-essential parts of society. They are sometimes beloved, but not essential components, especially right now.
Are you excited about the NBA returning this week? It might’ve been a nice distraction except all of them plan to kneel during the national anthem in solidarity with disgraced former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
And it won’t stop there at the NBA and NFL, the MLB already did it and so will the NHL. Count on it.
But if you attend games in the NFL and you can compartmentalize the anti-American distraction of kneeling during the national anthem, then you will be required to wear a mask.
That report came from NFL Public Relations spokesman Brian McCarthy who posted a picture of himself on Twitter wearing a mask.
For those wondering, yes, it is league-wide: fans at NFL games this season will be required to wear face coverings pic.twitter.com/D139KGKQ4r
— Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) July 22, 2020
However, the NFL is leaving fan attendance up to state and local officials. For example, Philadelphia will not allow any fans to attend games for either the Eagles or the Phillies when they play at home.
Another thing that has to be considered, particularly with the NFL, is whether it will work or not. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that the NFL will not be able to control the situation. In fact, all of the NFL players were furious the league didn’t have plans to protect the players and their families from contracting the Chinese coronavirus.
They expressed their disdain on social media following a conference call between the NFL and NFLPA that included Drew Brees, Derek Carr, JJ Watt and a litany of other leaders of the league.
But that was swept under the rug a week later when both sides agreed to the new conditions.
If the NFL believes they can mitigate the spread of coronavirus then they’re deluding themselves. There is no way they can prevent the spread with over a hundred personnel traveling to different cities every single week. That’s just utter nonsense.
They should’ve replicated the NBA’s model and put them all up in Las Vegas, but that will never happen. Look for a moment during the season where it will emulate March 11th when both the NBA and NHL postponed their seasons indefinitely because that’s exactly where the NFL is headed.
In other words, you probably won’t need your mask to attend games after all because there won’t be any.
