What Does Governor Newsom's Announcement Mean for College Football?
California governor Gavin Newsom said on Monday that pro sports can begin without fans in California in June. So does that mean that college football will soon receive clearance for a 2020 season?
Well, maybe, maybe not.
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College football has an entirely different set of parameters than pro sports, specifically pro football. The most significant difference is that colleges must consider whether having students on campus is a requirement to playing sporting events. Colleges also must consider whether they want to play games with no fans in the stands if that is the only way they can proceed.
Furthermore, just because the governor said pro sports can begin in June it doesn't necessarily mean they will. Pro leagues are still figuring out the logistics of playing games.
Having said that, however, the governor's announcement implies that restrictions for sporting events in California may be loosening a bit.
“Now we are broadening the pace to which people can enter into phase two and begin the process of making subsequent decisions to move more broadly into other sectors of our society,” Newsom said, according to CNBC.
Just a few days ago things looked bleak for West Coast schools and the Pac-12.
Decisions by governors of California and Oregon and an announcement by the California State University system that classes would be help primarily online had a number of media outlets suggesting the Pac-12 might get left behind when the 2020 college football season starts. CBSSports.com produced a story late last week with that exact sentiment.
Some colleges are already making contingency plans in case Pac-12 schools are not ready to play games when schools in other conferences are.
Governor Newsom does not seem to be backing down from his declaration that large crowds will probably not be allowed for the rest of the year. Plus the easing of restrictions is dependent on California’s ability to hold the rate of Covid-19 transmissions steady so no additional stress is put on hospitals. So things could change. As of Monday, California had 78,839 confirmed coronavirus cases and 3,261 deaths.
Lurking in the background is the fact that some regions of the state may be able to get back to "normalcy" more quickly than others. Would it be possible that Alameda County, where Cal is located, would maintain restrictions longer than, say, Los Angeles County, where USC and UCLA are located? And what would that mean for those schools' ability to play football games?
So the governor's announcement that pro sports will be allowed to be played in California in June, but with no crowds, may be a precedent in name only.
Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53
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