Will the 2020 season be canceled? (1 Viewer)

[No2DC]

This is a virus folks.

it is not going to "just quit".

It is here to stay. It will NEVER be "over". No amount of facemasks, social distancing shy of becoming a hermit will change anything. Just like the regular flu or influenza, it will always be around.

True but this thing has killed more Americans in two months than the Vietnam War and with some states starting to reopen without meeting certain benchmarks the projections by August is over 100,000 which is World War I territory. Moreover, the herd immunity scenario, with no vaccine, could lead to over a million deaths or more to get the 60-70% exposure to meet that threshold. The probability of a full season is very low, and the chance of fans in the stands is even lower.

 

[saintsdash]

It's disappointing to see the e-mail come in yesterday reminding that the next season ticket payment is due in a few weeks. There should be some clarity on the season occurring with fans in the stands prior to people forking over the full balance of the season tickets. The one thing that has been clear about this virus is that large gatherings help spread it like wildfire and under no scenario do I see 70,000+ people in a stadium as being appropriate by September without a vaccine.

 

[st. dave]

Answer to the OP's question....No.

Settled.

 

[Tigersaint71]

It's disappointing to see the e-mail come in yesterday reminding that the next season ticket payment is due in a few weeks. There should be some clarity on the season occurring with fans in the stands prior to people forking over the full balance of the season tickets. The one thing that has been clear about this virus is that large gatherings help spread it like wildfire and under no scenario do I see 70,000+ people in a stadium as being appropriate by September without a vaccine.

I feel you. I wish they would clarify what is gonna happen. If I pay off my tickets and then there are no fans, at the games, will I get my money back? The NFl need to come out with some info. I think if they do allow fans, it might be a hard sell, selling the tickets won't be easy

 

[sammymvpknight]

True but this thing has killed more Americans in two months than the Vietnam War and with some states starting to reopen without meeting certain benchmarks the projections by August is over 100,000 which is World War I territory. Moreover, the herd immunity scenario, with no vaccine, could lead to over a million deaths or more to get the 60-70% exposure to meet that threshold. The probability of a full season is very low, and the chance of fans in the stands is even lower.

Herd immunity is what happens without a vaccine. We are very likely at least a year away from a decent vaccine. Herd immunity is what we have...regardless of how much we want to flatten the curve. Social distancing will reduce incidence but I have yet to see good evidence that it’ll reduce prevalence and overall mortality (assuming healthcare resources are maintained...which has been the case in the US).

 

[xardoz]

True but this thing has killed more Americans in two months than the Vietnam War and with some states starting to reopen without meeting certain benchmarks the projections by August is over 100,000 which is World War I territory. Moreover, the herd immunity scenario, with no vaccine, could lead to over a million deaths or more to get the 60-70% exposure to meet that threshold. The probability of a full season is very low, and the chance of fans in the stands is even lower.

There is not going to be a vaccine for a couple years. It takes a long time to develop one, and get it through regulation and testing. Just as your death tolls are using inflated figures, you cannot compare that to a war. That is a straw-man argument. Not to mention, if you look at the recent tests, 17-23% of the population ALREADY has antibodies to this "new" virus. So how long has this virus actually been here?

Not to mention, the whole 'social-distancing' is probably going to cause more issues in the long run, than it is going to help. Yes, people who are 'at-risk' need to be careful, and use gloves and masks. For the rest of us, it is going to LOWER our immunity to all diseases and tertiary infections.

 

[No2DC]

LOL. Before address the latest talking point. Americans are dying from a virus,so how is that different than dying a war? The elephants are so desperate to escape blame their trying out a new excuse everyday but nothing will stick.

Trump and some top aides question accuracy of coronavirus death toll

He has suggested the real numbers are actually lower, according to sources with direct knowledge.

www.axios.com

My preference is for a vaccine but those usually take years to make, so the odds of more people getting it in the short term increases.

There is not going to be a vaccine for a couple years. It takes a long time to develop one, and get it through regulation and testing. Just as your death tolls are using inflated figures, you cannot compare that to a war. That is a straw-man argument. Not to mention, if you look at the recent tests, 17-23% of the population ALREADY has antibodies to this "new" virus. So how long has this virus actually been here?

Not to mention, the whole 'social-distancing' is probably going to cause more issues in the long run, than it is going to help. Yes, people who are 'at-risk' need to be careful, and use gloves and masks. For the rest of us, it is going to LOWER our immunity to all diseases and tertiary infections.

 

[Bill]

If they never find an effective vaccine for this virus (or any other aggressive one like Covid-19), would that eliminate spectator sports as we know it for all times?

 

[Pocket Hercules]

This is a virus folks.

it is not going to "just quit".

It is here to stay. It will NEVER be "over". No amount of facemasks, social distancing shy of becoming a hermit will change anything. Just like the regular flu or influenza, it will always be around.

Precisely. No reason to continue hiding forever, it's going to make it's way around, period. We simply cannot wait for a vaccine and many will refuse to receive it even when it is available. People who have been vaccinated at some point in the future will still contract it, or some mutated strain related to it.

If Kareem Jackson won't return to the field until he is 100% safe from COVID-19 or its future variations, he may as well hang up the cleats now. What an absurd statement.

 

[MJ in Calif]

If Kareem Jackson won't return to the field until he is 100% safe from COVID-19 or its future variations, he may as well hang up the cleats now. What an absurd statement.

Indeed. That's like saying I'm not driving on the freeway until it is 100% safe to do so. Unfortunately, this sort of thinking is dominating a good portion of the conversation. It is becoming more absurd by the day.

 

[Floridalsusaintsfan]

Who will go to games in this pandemic?

There are two options for this year:

1. hold games for television only but still risk player/staff health

2. cancel the season outright and start in 2021

We just don’t have enough time to have societal wide immunity before the season starts and certainly not before training camp. I know everyone needs football to keep spirits up, but I’m looking at this from a larger perspective.

I guarantee you that the Olympics won’t be held this year. And I doubt baseball will go on.

I learned the hard way that any optimism is severely frowned upon so I'm going to not comment further.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Even before the NFL released its schedule for the 2020 season, the league was confident it would play a full 16-game schedule on time despite the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with a second wave of the coronavirus looming, the NFL could be forced to change its schedule.

While the league released a full 2020 schedule this past week, officials crafted it to make the schedule portable. As a result, if the COVID-19 pandemic worsens or team owners decide they don’t want to play in empty stadiums, the NFL could make a major adjustment to the upcoming season.

According to NBC Sports’ Peter King, the NFL’s portable schedule would move the first four weeks of the season into January. As a result, the 2020 season would start on Thursday, Oct. 8 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers set to face the Chicago Bears on "Thursday Night Football."...……….

Report: NFL season could begin on Oct. 8

 

[jsny355]

A

It's disappointing to see the e-mail come in yesterday reminding that the next season ticket payment is due in a few weeks. There should be some clarity on the season occurring with fans in the stands prior to people forking over the full balance of the season tickets. The one thing that has been clear about this virus is that large gatherings help spread it like wildfire and under no scenario do I see 70,000+ people in a stadium as being appropriate by September without a vaccine.

Agree 100%. I was disheartened to read that. Has anyone reached out to see if they are flexible there?

 

[J.T.]

There is not going to be a vaccine for a couple years. It takes a long time to develop one, and get it through regulation and testing. Just as your death tolls are using inflated figures, you cannot compare that to a war. That is a straw-man argument. Not to mention, if you look at the recent tests, 17-23% of the population ALREADY has antibodies to this "new" virus. So how long has this virus actually been here?

Not to mention, the whole 'social-distancing' is probably going to cause more issues in the long run, than it is going to help. Yes, people who are 'at-risk' need to be careful, and use gloves and masks. For the rest of us, it is going to LOWER our immunity to all diseases and tertiary infections.

If they never find an effective vaccine for this virus (or any other aggressive one like Covid-19), would that eliminate spectator sports as we know it for all times?

I would take the "Under" on an effective vaccine being fairly widely available in less than two years. A few vaccine candidates are actively being tested now, there will be some Phase Two Trials, with results within a few months, there is also very serious consideration being given in the US and in some European countries to have "human challenge trials" where people (volunteers) are given a vaccine candidate and then exposed to the virus on purpose to find out if the vaccine works in a very compressed time period. Over 14,000 people have signed up to volunteer for one such trial. This has been done before in a very controlled environment for a seasonal flu vaccine before.

On the season question, I do think that capacity level fans in the stands won't happen until there is a widespread vaccine available or some very effective treatments. There are several treatments being studied now, if a few show very good results, it is possible that a vaccine might not be 100% "necessary" for most people to resume "normal" looking life again.

I now think the NFL plans to start the season on time, with either no fans or VERY limited fans, and then see what happens.

 

[bobad]

We may be surprised at how quickly sports is normalized. Good signs. The natives are getting restless, and the authorities won't be able to hold them back. They started to trickle out a couple of weeks ago, more last week, more this week. It will soon be a flood, then a tsunami. The government can't "save" people who don't want to be saved. It's human nature to normalize things, and the rush has begun.