League on course for full season starting on Sept 10
LOS ANGELES: The National Football League (NFL), the only major American sporting league so far largely unaffected by the coronavirus outbreak, says it is on course to begin its season on time in September.
“We plan announcing late next week the full regular season schedule that begins with kick-off on Sept 10 and culminates with the Super Bowl in Tampa Feb 7, 2021,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in an email to Reuters.
Each team is expected to play 16 regular season games as per usual, though the league is evaluating contingency plans should this prove untenable, multiple media outlets have reported.
It is yet to be announced whether fans will be allowed to attend games.
While other major sporting leagues, including the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Baseball (MLB), have shut down due to the coronavirus, the NFL has been able to buy time before making any major decisions.
Its season ended in early February, shortly before evidence of a major coronavirus outbreak in the United States became widely known.
Some areas of the US are now starting to emerge from lockdown as rules are relaxed even as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases rises in some states.
Last week’s NFL draft attracted record US television ratings in a country starved of live sporting action.
QB DALTON JOINS COWBOYS
Two days after his release from the Cincinnati Bengals, quarterback Andy Dalton agreed to sign a one-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys to back up Dak Prescott, multiple outlets reported on Saturday night.
Dalton’s deal is reportedly worth up to US$7 million, with $3 million guaranteed. The 32-year-old, who played in college at TCU, already has a home in Dallas and won’t need to move, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported.
Dalton was released on Thursday after nine seasons with the Bengals, who drafted LSU’s Joe Burrow with the first overall pick last weekend. Dalton was due to earn $17.7 million in 2020, the final season of a six-year contract extension he signed in August 2014.