NFL Teams Could Lose Almost $100 Million Without Fans in Stands
With the NFL schedule set to be released Thursday, one of the biggest questions looming, besides how much, if any of the scheduled games the league will be able to play, is whether conditions associated with the current global COVID-19 pandemic will have gotten under control to allow for teams to welcome back their fans to stadiums.
For that to happen, there would almost certainly have to be a vaccination or proven medication to combat the COVID-19 virus, which has caused nearly 70,000 deaths in the United States alone.
That's why there has been discussion about the league potentially proceeding with the season without its fans present.
According to SI's Albert Breer, who spoke to a couple of teams, doing so could prove to be extremely costly for NFL teams, with roughly $100 million in lost revenue resulting from such an extreme move.
While the bulk of the NFL's revenue comes from the television contracts, the potential for the lost revenue that would ordinarily be generated via game day cannot be dismissed.
Already teams around the league have deferred season-ticket payment deadlines, the Giants being the latest such tam to push back their deadline, generally in Mid-March, to July 1.
That revenue generated from ticket sales and the advanced purchase of parking is projected to be sufficient in covering the cost of the team's off-season operating expenses.
Then factor in the lost revenue from concession and merchandise sales, and the financial pinch becomes even greater.
Could the NFL survive without fans in the stands regardless? Probably.
But that wouldn't be ideal given that fans in attendance also contribute revenue to merchandise and concession sales.
The idea of limiting fan admission to a stadium has also been contemplated, but this isn't practical for several reasons.
While some have suggested a checkerboard type of seating system that adheres to social distancing guidelines in a stadium, enforcing such an arrangement would be virtually impossible.
Further, there is the matter of which fans would be allowed in, as even a lottery system would likely not be well received by fans, especially if they have to shell out their money to be in the lottery or who hold PSLs that mandate they keep up with their season ticket purchases even if they don't intend to attend games.
And then what happens if recommended government health guidelines determine it's still not safe for anyone to be admitted to the stadium after teams have collected season ticket money?
Do the teams dare to hold on to the money until next year when many of its fans could probably use that cash plus its associated interest to cover daily expenses in the interim?
With the start of the NFL season still months away, and with more and more being learned about COVID-19--how it's spread, its symptoms and the development of quick and accurate testing--it's not hard to understand the league's optimism about holding a season.
But there are too many risks involved to now for sure that there will be a season, which is what it might behoove the NFL to re-word its expectations about 2020 rather than risk driving false hope.
Get in on our Friday Fan Day mailbag. Send your questions to nygiantsmaven@gmail.com.
