Football Fans Think Seasons Shouldn’t Kick Off as Planned

Source: Statista

As the coronavirus continues to ravage the United States and Major League Baseball’s return to play has been marred by positive tests from day 1, doubts over the upcoming football season are bigger than ever. While the 2020 NFL season is still scheduled to start September 10, two of the most powerful college football conferences in the country have called off all fall sports.

Defying a push from players to go ahead with the season as planned, the Big Ten and the Pac-12 announced their decision this week. “You have to listen to your medical experts,” Kevin Warren, the Big Ten commissioner, said in an interview on Tuesday. “There’s a lot of emotion involved with this, but when you look at the health and well-being of our student-athletes, I feel very confident that we made the right decision.”

While President Trump has been vocal about his support for the resumption of sports, even football fans have grown increasingly doubtful about whether or not the season should be kicked off as planned this fall. According to a Morning Consult poll 51 percent of NFL fans and 58 percent of college football fans think that their respective seasons should be either postponed or cancelled, with only 32 and 30 percent thinking it should be played as planned.

NFL Infographic

NBA Hits 0 COVID Cases Ahead of Restart

Source: Statista

On Thursday, July 30, the NBA season will restart in Orlando after shutting down early in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. The New Orleans Pelicans will face the Utah Jazz before the two Los Angeles team – the Clippers and the Lakers – showcase what may be an early glimpse at a Western Conference Finals series. The restart could serve as a model for reopening sports nationwide, as so far, the quarantined area of Disney World where the teams are staying has proven to halt the spread of the virus.

A day before, the NBA announced a total of zero positive COVID-19 cases out of 344 tests conducted as of July 27. Players, coaches and staff began their months-long journey in the Disney World bubble on July 10, where they must remain until they’ve been eliminated from playoff contention. Apart from a few violations of the strict quarantine rules, the vast majority of team personnel have abided by the rules and have set themselves up for a successful season restart of basketball.

The first cases of NBA players contracting COVID-19 became public in early March, and the NBA quickly suspended their season on March 11. While some players who’ve tested positive were released publicly, others remained private ahead of players entering the bubble on July 10. Overall, there were 16 active cases of COVID-19 in late June. After weeks of consistent testing and quarantining, that number went down to zero by July 20, and the NBA hopes to keep it there as they move forward with the season.

NBA COVID Infographic