NFLPA: No preseason games in 2020

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https://www.nfl.com/news/nflpa-tells-pl ... es-in-2020
The NFL Players Association on Tuesday told its players there will be zero preseason games in 2020, NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, Tom Pelissero and NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported.

Union leadership shared this information with its players during a conference call one day after the league proposed a one-game preseason slate to the union, then followed that up later Monday with an adjusted offer that included zero preseason games. The NFL and NFLPA previously had been split on a preseason slate, with the league sticking to a desire to play half of a typical four-game preseason schedule before acquiescing this week.

The NFLPA also told its membership it is still pushing for a longer ramp-up period for players to physically acclimate to the training-camp demands of professional football, and it expects rosters to stand at 80 players per team. The NFL has not yet signed off on an 80-man roster for training camp, per Pelissero, and though there was a discussion on giving teams an option to divide the roster (i.e., 80 active and 10 on standby), the union told players it wanted all teams to follow one rule.

The union said it has a general agreement with the league on voluntary and high-risk opt-out possibilities, and another general agreement on a compensatory stipend in the event games are lost due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The main economics still need to be hashed out between the two sides, and the details for the general agreements also need to be finalized, but the two sides have agreed on the concept.
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They're trying to buy time, and limit potential exposure. But that is *kinda* nonsense because there is just as much risk practicing as a team with so many people and potential disease vectors.

I view this as a bad sign. I agree with Plank there is an eye focused on MLB (and probably NBA) to see what happens. I do think baseball is far safer. Hoops and football more similar - hoops being the most contact, but football having such higher numbers of participants.

I know they're going to have *some* kind of a season for sure, because there is so much economic pressure. But we should prepare ourselves for something more non-standard than just no fans.
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IE wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 8:57 am They're trying to buy time, and limit potential exposure. But that is *kinda* nonsense because there is just as much risk practicing as a team with so many people and potential disease vectors.

I view this as a bad sign. I agree with Plank there is an eye focused on MLB (and probably NBA) to see what happens. I do think baseball is far safer. Hoops and football more similar - hoops being the most contact, but football having such higher numbers of participants.

I know they're going to have *some* kind of a season for sure, because there is so much economic pressure. But we should prepare ourselves for something more non-standard than just no fans.
Yea...no fans won't really bother me all that much though to be honest. It's different, but I have been watching some EPL since it's been one of the only televised sports on lately and I quickly forgot about the fact that the fans weren't there. Didn't seem to impact the intensity of play, the simulated fan sounds helped it from seeming too weird, and with the announcers going my mind quickly adapted to it.
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I think you're right on some sports. Faster paced games can help you forget about the absent crowd. My issue is the fan-less games really brought to my attention how slow the game of MLB really is... it's hard for me to watch. Football I think *could* have some of those same aspects of so much conspicuous time between plays. I think football has the ability to mitigate that with the video feed. I'd like to see them get really creative with new camera views, and be a lot more engaged in the sidelines between plays. It could actually be cool. And maybe some innovative "Zoom Meeting" type presentation in the games. The draft was really cool & engaging even though it was virtual. I hope they're really working towards that sort of stuff than sitting & hoping they can just present the games like regular with no fans and piped in sound.
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IE wrote: Thu Jul 23, 2020 10:48 am I think you're right on some sports. Faster paced games can help you forget about the absent crowd. My issue is the fan-less games really brought to my attention how slow the game of MLB really is... it's hard for me to watch. Football I think *could* have some of those same aspects of so much conspicuous time between plays. I think football has the ability to mitigate that with the video feed. I'd like to see them get really creative with new camera views, and be a lot more engaged in the sidelines between plays. It could actually be cool. And maybe some innovative "Zoom Meeting" type presentation in the games. The draft was really cool & engaging even though it was virtual. I hope they're really working towards that sort of stuff than sitting & hoping they can just present the games like regular with no fans and piped in sound.
MLB really is weird to watch. And I think that's because the fans are in almost every frame during the broadcast. I think with the way the NFL is televised, the production teams can kind of mitigate that so you are really only seeing the game on the field.

You really only have to see fans during extra points and field goals. Teams could just put up advertising behind the goal posts.

Fanless games are not out of the realm of possibility. I don't think that's the crux of the problem. It's 22 guys touching each other constantly for 4 quarters.
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Agreed that's our huge problem for we fans. :(

The fan stuff is really a separate matter of public health and economic issues. Which really doesn't have anything directly to do with football. It's all the same discussion, whether it is sports, concerts - whatever.

I just hope hope hope the league pulls off the damned games.
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