Fauci Says NFL Needs a "Bubble" to Play in 2020
Sports and Business News: June 18th
Dr. Fauci: "Very Hard to see how football is able to be played"
During an interview with CNN, Dr. Anthony Fauci discussed how football can safely return to action this fall.
The Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said the following:
"Unless players are essentially in a bubble-insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day, it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall.”
Dr. Fauci also added if there is a second wave of the coronavirus, football may not happen this year.
In response to those comments, NFL’s Chief Medical officer Dr. Allen Sills says the league is "developing a comprehensive and rapid-result testing program and rigorous protocols that call for a shared responsibility from everyone inside our football ecosystem.” Dr. Sills also added the league “will be flexible and adaptable in this environment to adjust to the virus as needed.”
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the NFL Players Association is telling its members they could be tested every three days for COVID-19.
Earlier in the week, Sports Illustrated reported that the state of Texas is seeing a spike in coronavirus cases, and several members of the Texans and Cowboys have tested positive for the coronavirus.
According to Texas Longhorns reporter, Brian Davis, 13 players from the University of Texas have just tested positive for COVID-19. That’s a little less than a third of their roster.
The NFL season is scheduled to kick off on September 10th with the defending Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Houston Texans.
Legal Online Sports Betting Now Live In Illinois
Earlier today Illinois activated their mobile sports gambling platforms. Rivers casino via BetRivers is the first legal sports book operator to go live with a mobile app in the Prairie State.
BetRivers also launched their sportsbook in Colorado last month and have active mobile betting applications in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Seven casinos in Illinois were approved for a sports betting license including Grand Victoria which is owned by MGM, Hollywood Casino, and others. No word yet on if DraftKings or FanDuel will be approved for operating licenses in Illinois.
It's worth noting that the original Illinois sports betting law did not allow mobile betting but an executive order by Governor J.B. Pritzker opened the door to temporarily allow Illinois residents to bet on sports from their computers or phones due to the pandemic.
Daily Business Update
Worldwide, there are over 8.2 million cases of the virus, with over 445,000 deaths. The U.S. has 2.1 million cases, with over 117,000 deaths. Brazil has over 923,000 cases, with 45,000 reported deaths. This week, Florida, Texas and Arizona have set daily records for new cases.
On Tuesday, Florida recorded nearly 2,800 new cases. However, Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, said that Florida will not be shutting down again despite hitting new daily records three days in a week.
Nine Texas mayors have sent a letter to Governor Greg Abbott asking to require masks. The mayors included are from Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, among others.
On Tuesday, the state also announced a record-breaking number of new cases at 2,600. And Arizona, on Tuesday, reported nearly 2,400 new cases, which is a record high.
Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York said that New York City is on track to ease more restrictions as soon as Monday.
This would move New York into Phase II of reopening and would mean that outdoor dining, some in-store shopping, hair salons, barbershops and even some offices could start reopening. There would be restrictions on capacity and social distancing.
