NFL is reportedly mulling contingency plans for delayed start, empty stadiums

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The NFL isn't ready to give up hope on a "normal" season quite yet, but that's not stopping them from being prepared. 

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According to a report from Washington Post NFL reporter Mark Maske, the league has already had discussions regarding how the coronavirus pandemic will affect the 2020-2021 season: 

There's been no change to the status quo yet, and while the NFL declined comment for the story, several of the sources inside the league that Maske talked to told a different story: 

“I don’t know if it’ll be a one-third-filled stadium, a half-filled stadium or whatever,” one of the people said Wednesday. “The NFL is planning for everything from playing without fans to playing with full stadiums. We know there will be a push from the [federal] government to open things up. I think we’re going to have fans in the stands.”

The uncertainty also explains why the league has yet to release the season's week-by-week schedule, which typically comes out in early April. Instead, the NFL is pushing the announcement back more than a month, in part so that they can continue accounting "for the possibility of games being lost by a delayed start."

The article also points out that the NFL has the luxury of time – something neither of the other major sports leagues can afford. With that in mind, the NFL is waiting for the NBA, NHL, and Major League Baseball to announce how they plan to proceed before making any concrete decisions of their own. 

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