- The NFL has announced it will monitor the coronavirus outbreak.
- 13 states with NFL home teams have confirmed cases of the virus.
- NFL offseason events could be affected by the outbreak.
PALM BEACH, Fla. - As the NFL Draft season approaches, the league is continuing to monitor the U.S. outbreak of the coronavirus. League officials released a statement voicing their concerns as well as how they plan to monitor the situation.
“We are closely monitoring developments and have been in contact with the World Health Organization, CDC and the NFL-NFLPA medical experts at the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network (DICON) Program for Infection Prevention,” the statement read. “We will continue those discussions throughout our offseason.”
The statement came shortly after the NBA had sent out a memo with recommendations on how to prevent the spread of the virus.
The matter will be discussed more in-depth at the leagues' annual meeting on April 1st in Palm Beach, Florida. The meeting will be attended by team owners, general managers and coaches.
NFL States With Coronavirus
Of the 18 states that are currently affected with confirmed cases, 13 states are homes to NFL teams.
- California: LA Rams, LA Chargers, San Francisco 49ers
- Washington: Seattle Seahawks
- New York/New Jersey: N.Y. Jets, N.Y. Giants, Buffalo Bills
- Massachusetts: New England Patriots
- Wisconsin: Green Bay Packers
- Illinois: Chicago Bears
- Tennessee: Tennessee Titans
- North Carolina: Carolina Panthers
- Georgia: Atlanta Falcons
- Florida: Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars
- Texas: Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys
- Arizona: Arizona Cardinals
These stadiums pack thousands of fans weekly during football season, making them a breeding ground for spreading germs and bacteria. These stadiums all have places to wash hands but it is unclear if more measures will be taken during the 2020 season.
Events Potentially Impacted
Sporting events and other big gatherings around the world are dealing with cancellations and postponing. This could affect Super Bowl bets, if the virus isn’t contained by next year.
All of the NFL offseason events have the potential of being affected by the virus. The NFL Draft in Las Vegas, where thousands of people show up to either get drafted or spectate could be in jeopardy as it is a three-day event.
The NFL Combine, although it has already concluded, did already come with concerns about traveling amongst the participating players. NFL Pro Days, are usually held at the universities where players could get drafted from but NFL teams could invite players to travel for interviews or private workouts.
One event that has already been affected is a scheduled autograph signing in Santa Clara for the San Francisco 49ers. It is being held at the Santa Clara Convention Center and players from the team were going to show up. Running back Raheem Mostert recently released a statement on Twitter announcing that he will not be in attendance.
Statement regarding my March 8th signing: pic.twitter.com/hF0jEiRRJk
— Raheem Mostert (@RMos_8Ball) March 4, 2020
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Samuel has been writing professionally for 4 years. He comes from a sports writing background where he enjoys writing mostly about basketball and football both professional and collegiate. He is a recent graduate of Florida State University where he majored in Editing, Writing and Media with a minor in Communications. During his free time, you can find him watching or playing sports as well as playing videogames and listening to music.