The NFL season is scheduled to begin as planned on September 10, but games are expected to be played behind closed doors.
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross believes fans will be allowed into stadiums once the NFL season begins, despite the novel coronavirus pandemic.
While the NBA and the NHL have been forced to suspend their respective seasons and the MLB had to push back Opening Day indefinitely, football has gone through the two-month nationwide lockdown relatively unscathed.
The NFL plans to begin the season as scheduled on September 10 and earlier this month released a full 256-game schedule for the regular season. So far, it has been widely accepted that the 32 franchises will have to play behind closed doors to meet social distancing measures.
Ross, however, insisted he expected fans to be in the stands come Week 1.
« I think there definitely will be a football season this year, » he said during an interview with CNBC on Tuesday morning.
« [The] real question is, will there be fans in the stadium? Right now—today—we’re planning to have fans in the stadium. »
Ross added that the Dolphins were preparing themselves for different scenarios and had taken into account the possibility of playing in front of fans, as well as behind closed doors.
« We all miss our sports, » Ross said. « The NFL, I think, will be ready to go. I know we’re all looking forward to it. I know I am. »
While the NFL is yet to make a formal decision over whether the regular season—or at least parts of it—will be played behind closed doors, it seems almost inevitable that fans will have to be content watching games on TV for the foreseeable future.
