When looking at the Fake Fans in the South Korean stadium above, I’m reminded that the United States faces a crisis in the Fall when the NFL plans to play games. Will NFL teams compete in empty stadiums? Will only a portion of the seats be filled with fans who can “prove” they don’t have coronavirus? Or will we resort to the South Korean solution of filling our stadiums with Fake Fans? It’s all a big mystery!
What do you think will happen? What do you think of your favorite NFL team’s schedule?
BUFFALO BILLS 2020 SCHEDULE
| Week | Date | Opponent | Kickoff time | TV |
| 1 | Sept. 13 | vs. Jets | 1 p.m. ET | CBS |
| 2 | Sept. 20 | at Dolphins | 1 p.m. ET | CBS |
| 3 | Sept. 27 | vs. Rams | 1 p.m. ET | Fox |
| 4 | Oct. 4 | at Raiders | 4:25 p.m. ET | CBS |
| 5 | Oct. 11 | at Titans | 1 p.m. ET | CBS |
| 6 | Oct. 15 | vs. Chiefs (TNF) | 8:20 p.m. ET | Fox/NFLN/Amazon |
| 7 | Oct. 25 | at Jets | 1 p.m. ET | CBS |
| 8 | Nov. 1 | vs. Patriots | 1 p.m. ET | CBS |
| 9 | Nov. 8 | vs. Seahawks | 1 p.m. ET | Fox |
| 10 | Nov. 15 | at Cardinals | 4:05 p.m. ET | CBS |
| 11 | BYE | — | — | — |
| 12 | Nov. 29 | vs. Chargers | 1 p.m. ET | CBS |
| 13 | Dec. 7 | at 49ers (MNF) | 8:15 p.m. ET | ESPN |
| 14 | Dec. 13 | vs. Steelers (SNF) | 8:20 p.m. ET | NBC |
| 15 | Dec. 19/20 | at Broncos | TBD | TBD |
| 16 | Dec. 28 | at Patriots (MNF) | 8:15 p.m. ET | ESPN |
| 17 | Jan. 3 | vs. Dolphins | 1 p.m. ET | CBS |
It is likely that a big wave will come sometime during the season. The question is it worth starting and stopping, is it worth testing as people enter the stadium? But can they afford to sacrifice all those tkt sales? I think they probably can and will and go with fake fans.
Patti, I’m with you on the Fake Fans in the stands. That was South Korea’s solution. You couldn’t pay me enough to go to a crowded venue right now. Our coronavirus numbers are still going up!
There’s no way to know at this point how this will work out. Sports fans are so hungry for their fix that I’m pretty sure they’ll give the product the benefit of the doubt. Regardless of the outcome I applaud the NFL for working out a plan well in advance. They certainly can’t wait until late August and suddenly decide to start the season.
Michael, I’m getting the feeling we may be seeing NFL games played in empty stadiums with “Fake Fans” in the stands and piped in crowd noise.
I don’t see them playing in front of fans for the foreseeable future. Maybe when they get to the playoffs? All it will take is one or two infected people spreading the virus in one stadium and the whole thing will shut down, so I don’t think they will dare risk it, no matter what Trump wants.
As for the Giants, forget it. Their schedule is a disaster and they will be lucky to improve on last year’s 4-12 record. They have Dallas and Philadelphia twice each, of course, plus San Francisco and Seattle and the Rams, and Baltimore and Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay.
Jeff, the only way I can envision fans in the stadiums is if the NFL tests all the fans as they wait to entire the stadium. That presupposes those high-tech testing units that give results in 5 minutes. Of course, testing 70,000 fans before the game would be costly.
There are some words I no longer use because of the idiot in the WH. Fake is one of them, trump is another. hoax is a third. I see you use them all, so I guess you’re OK with the Trump vocabulary. I’m not.
Who knows what will happen to sports? Not me.
Rick, if any of the pro sports–NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NASCAR–can offer their fans their product, I’m betting on the NFL. I know NASCAR is going to run a race with no one in the stands, but I’ll be curious to see who will tune in to watch it.
I’ve pretty much lost interest in football. The packers are my team, followed by the saints (at least as long as Brees is there).
I’ll watch sometimes, but it’s pretty much just the superbowl for the commercials.
I think they’ll go with fake fans. Can you imagine the lawsuits is someone catches the virus after going to a game. The POS in the white house is determined to have games again, but I think many fans will accept watching on TV.
Maggie, I agree with you. There’s a lot of pressure to “Open Up” and that includes sports. But most NFL fans don’t attend the games in person; it’s a TV sport. So playing NFL games in empty stadiums would still draw audiences.
Until there’s a reliable covid vaccine, you couldn’t pay me enough to voluntarily go to a stadium with umpteen-thousand other people to watch a sporting event (or concert, for that matter). And with the sloppy, piecemeal quarantine and social distancing measures we’ve implemented, there’s no way we’re not going to see another covid surge right around the start of flu season. But I’m guessing there are enough people who (1) think they’re immune and/or (2) have been persuaded that it’s un-American to wear a mask, practice safe social-distancing, or to give a f*ck about infecting others that there will be some fans in the stands.
Amen, Deb.
Rick, Deb always has a keen grasp of the situation.
we need a “like” button, like facebook has I’d give deb many likes for that
Maggie, we all love Deb with her sharp wit and astute sensibility!
Deb, I agree with you. Even though Western NY is under Stay-at-Home orders, many people are walking around without masks and not social distancing (I can see them out my window). Kids are riding bikes and scooters–some with no helmets and/or masks. A segment of our population seems to think pandemic procedures don’t apply to them or don’t care to follow them. But they risk contracting the coronavirus, which is a cruel disease.
Amen, Deb. Every time they show Trump and Pence and the rest of them without masks it is sending a message that not only the faithful but the stupid can easily read: if he doesn’t need a mask, why do I? Of course, he is getting tested repeatedly and I guarantee has given instructions that anyone who tries to approach him without being cleared is wrestled to the ground. I also noticed that Melania (Wear a Mask!) was not wearing one when they put the WWII survivors at risk yesterday, Way to set an example, First Family!
Around here most people do seem to wear masks, but some pull them down to talk on the phone or when they are not passing someone. Joggers largely don’t wear them. People walking dogs, it’s hit and miss. A lot more stores and open businesses are putting “Must Wear Face Covering” signs on the doors and windows.
Jeff, if people haven’t figured out by now that the current Administration doesn’t understand the coronavirus pandemic and that their actions are contradictory and misleading, then they must face the consequences.
John just read me something Trump said about the woman who works in Mike Pence’s office and was just diagnosed with covid (paraphrasing here, but you can look it up): “She was getting tested regularly and was always negative, until suddenly she got tested and was positive. That’s why testing doesn’t really work: it tells you you’re negative until it tells you you’re positive.”
/Deb’s Trump translator: “The story we’re going with the cover our complete lack of developing a simple and widely available covid test is because we can’t develop a test that can go back in time and tell you that when you will test positive at some point in the future.”
There isn’t a face-palm indignant enough for this.
Deb, I saw the footage of Trump trying to grasp that a staff member can test negative one day…and positive the next. That’s how testing works!
I don’t care! My life isn’t shackled to pro sports! I’ll watch when I feel like it, but I have other things to do! Anyway, it’s all Trump’s fault!
Bob, Truer words were never spoken!
Facetious words!
I just looked at the schedule again. I’m looking forward to that November 8 game.
Rick, I am, too…if the NFL actually plays those games. I can see some law suits over this.
I’m not a fan of football (or any other sport which you just watch while having a beer and popcorn …) but this discussion is really enlightening.
Though the intelligent people here all see Trump’s and his advisors’ shortcoming the question remains:
What will happen in the USA this year?
At 77 I’m too old to travel ther again anyway but I watch discussions on German forums where people are shedding tears because they can’t visit North America, it’s so sad.
PS and a bit OT:
My granddaughter and her partner have been in Canada now for several months on the “Work and Travel” program, right now they are on Vancouver Island and we’re wondering when they’ll come back. Btw they already spent a year each in Australia and New Zealand – lucky young ones!
Even more OT:
I’m following and participating on an English language wordpress site by Eva Balogh, another retired US professor living in New England (Ain’t that strange? 🙂 🙂 ) who grew up in Hungary and left after the failed revolution in 1956 to flee the communists. Like many in the USA who were born in Hungary or have other connections there I’m following the developments here in Europe. She just published a list from a Hungarian news agency of the “constipation theories” re George Soros with sources – crazy!
https://hungarianspectrum.org/2020/05/09/444-george-soros-the-man-who-would-have-killed-his-mother/#comment-190187
Did you know that there are tin foil hat wearers who believe that the whole Covid 19 is just an idea of Bill Gates and Soros to implant chips via vaccinations to control everybody? Don’t know whether to laugh or cry …
Wolf, things are going to get worse before they get better. The U.S. is NOT testing enough. And, not enough Contact Tracing is being done. Not enough people are wearing masks. A lot of people aren’t social distancing. This is all a prescription for Disaster!