As the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly across the globe, it is disrupting major sporting events leading to cancellation and postponement of games. The social distancing measures put in place to mitigate the spread of the disease have posed significant effects on the sporting fixtures. NFL has thus taken precaution measures and has put in place the following strategies in response to the crisis disruptions.
Testing for the Virus
NFL teams and its players are coming together to support the country in the fight against COVID 19 pandemic. Amid a shortage of test kits, mostly, the rich have access to the testing while most people who need it don’t. The NFL has come out to help in testing their players according to the right criteria and the recommendations given by the public health authorities. Based on the principles guiding their test, only those players with a high degree of exposure get tested. They have also urged their players to maintain social distancing and other experts’ guidelines to prevent the spread of the disease beyond the American healthcare system capacity.
Holding Offseason Business
Just like other businesses, the NFL has their players work from home to limit the spread of the disease. Most people are working remotely, and only a few persons are in the offices for essential operations. From the league’s standpoint, they have switched to virtual or phone meetings and are asking all their clubs to adopt this as well.
Some of their clubs, like the Steelers, have taken gym classes to a new level. They are now teaching on the importance of working out while working from home using a virtual gym class. The players and students from the Urban Academy in Pittsburgh conduct a 45-minute workout session providing different learning experiences. The gym sessions help the players to remain energized, physically active and engaged to keep them moving.
Televising Games with no Public Events
NFL is trying to capitalize on media consumption by creating new ways to engage their fans. The group is overly concerned about the global health crisis and is taking their responsibilities seriously. There hasn’t been any fan present for the NFL draft in Las Vegas, to abide by the public health authorities’ recommendations against discretionary travel and large gatherings. It aims at giving an advantage to the teams in places impacted less by the pandemic. They have also prohibited the in-person pre-draft visits involving eligible players until further notice and, in turn, will conduct one-hour interviews with draft prospects via video call or phone.
Since it’s a heavily viewed event, the NFL has taken the opportunity to use their platforms for viewership while reinstating the appropriate measures to curb the pandemic. According to Sills NFL’s medical officer, they believe that they have an important obligation and responsibility to model the best behavior in these trying times. In the absence of live games, they have also deepened the pool of content available to fans by making every game since 2009 available for streaming on the direct customer channel Game Pass, which has recorded an increase in new daily sign-ups. In the event of the crisis forcing the NFL to postpone the scheduled start of the new season on September 10, this streaming offer will likely continue to remain popular considering that betting on NFL live games consequently wouldn’t be possible either. American punters would certainly miss the excitement of competing against the bookmakers’ odds in spread betting particularly. But also people from Europe would have to get creative in the event of the NFL season being postponed and hope for football and other sports continuing in the near future.
Making Donations
The pandemic has brought tragic effects to the community, and the NFL teams seem pleased to help out where they can. They are donating financial resources to the problematic hit areas in the country. The league’s player coalition of the NFL has donated $250,000 to the Henry Ford’s social justice funds meant to help the minorities and low-income communities struggling with the impacts of the pandemic. The Los Angeles Rams have recently partnered with other organizations to provide masks and personal protective equipment donations. The contributions will ensure that volunteer programs staff remains safe as they help in distributing food to those in critical needs. They aim at guaranteeing total protection in schools and other vital sections of the society by providing face coverings.
Postponement of Events
It was expected that the NFL would release the 2020 schedule early this month, but they may have to wait due to the pandemic. Most of the teams have decided to shut down their workout facilities to avoid the spread of the virus within players and staff. Players have had to do individual workouts at home to keep fit as they wait for games to resume. The league will further adjust the regular season dates depending on the outcome of COVID-19 or even shorten the number of games. Most of the teams have also suspended the traveling of coaches and scouts until further notice.
Conclusion
In these challenging times, the NFL focuses on developing new strategies to emerge from the crisis stronger. The league owners seem to go on with their businesses as usual, and after the pandemic, they will resume their spot in top perpetuity.