It is finally time for the NFL season to begin with the season opener being played on Thursday night in Kansas City. As the NFL gears up for this start, many new coronavirus protocols have been put into place. Some of the obvious ones are the absence of fans, no preseason, and a shortened and lighter training camp that used ease athletes back into play. The NFL released a number protocols that are in effect this year that we all need to know about to strive for a successful and safe season. Knowing that this season is weirder than anything we have seen before, we have gathered a list of some of the smaller, but still very important Covid-19 protocols.

2020 will be a mostly fanless year. This is information we have figured since March and confirmed from the league this summer. The main goal of the NFL this season is to finish out the year while remaining as safe as possible. Without fans, the chances of a Covid outbreak is drastically lessened. This season will have some weird and wacky protocols that you might never have imagined would be necessary to safely play football. These set of guidelines are subject to change as the season progresses, but will at least be effect through the remainder of Week 1.

In order to keep as few people in the stadiums during the games, mascots and cheerleaders will not be in attendance at the start of this season. Although there are no fans to entertain, teams are going to try their best to include their mascots throughout their team activities. Some teams such as the San Francisco 49ers will have their cheerleaders perform a routine at the plaza entrances of Levi’s Stadium during the team’s online pregame shows, according to SFGate.com.

The tradition of handshakes and jersey swaps will be no longer in the start of the 2o2o season. According to the NFL game-day protocol, “Home and away teams are prohibited from post-game interactions within 6 feet of one another.” This eliminates any handshakes and the always exciting jersey swap and signing that players have made a tradition in recent years.

The coin toss may look different this year with only one member from each team present for the event. This person must remain 6 feet away from others and be wearing a proper face covering. There is also so talk of making the coin toss virtual or awarding the win to the home team and always allowing them to choose.

Although there will be no fans in the stadiums for most teams, the games will still be televised. Because of this, the NFL will be using previous seasons “fan noise” to replace the empty sounds the viewers would be hearing. The NFL hired local audio operators to run a sound board that can transition from five levels of fan intensity depending on the game situation. There will be individualized tracks that play songs and sounds specific to the team who is playing (fight song, chants, etc).

Electronic whistles will be used this season to replace the traditional ones. This will limit potential spread as the officials do not need to blow their own air out to activate the whistle sound. This season will be using electronic whistles that work off batteries and can be triggered by a thumb depression and emits a sound of about 100 decibels. Some coaches have been using them in practice during training camp. Officials can choose to use the traditional whistles, but they must be used with a face mask overtop of the whistle.

The NFL is not taking any chances and is looking to transport players to away games on two charter plans rather than one. This is to ensure the maximum social distancing. Seats on the planes will be blocked off every other so that no player is sitting right next to each other. To assist, the league is allowing only 70 non-players to join each traveling party. That count includes coaches, medical officials and all other essential staff.

Teams throughout the NFL are taking the opportunity to quarantine a backup quarterback away from the rest of the team. This quarterback is on standby with the hopes that if a breakout occurs, they will not be infected and the team can still play. Philadelphia Eagles coach Doug Pederson is one of the coaches to do this. The Eagles signed veteran quarterback Josh McCown to their practice squad and will let him live in Texas during the season as an insurance policy.

The NFL is following suit with the rest of the sports and entertainment industry in looking quite different in 2020. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, precautions and protocols all over the league have been put into place to ensure the success and safety of the players, staff and fans of the 202o season. The use of these procedures help to let the players play while remaining safe. All of these policies are subject to change, but as of Week 1, this is how the NFL season will look.

We all already know that the novice Covid-19 Virus has made the world weird. It closed our jobs, our schools, and our businesses. It cancelled entertainment for a good 5 month. Now we are back in the swing of having entertainment such as live sports in our lives once again, and people are thrilled. Although they can watch their sports at home, people are itching to fill the stadiums once again. What if there was a way to get the fans back in, at least a little at a time.

Most, if not all venues have suites in them where fans could enjoy the event from the comfort of a sectioned off space in the stadium. This type of seating is usually a luxury, but what if it was opened up for groups for sporting events and concerts. If each suite can usually hold 40 people, we would cut that number in half to obey social distancing guidelines. All fans must wear masks when in the suite and on the stadium property.  These suites would be the only open places in the stadium and would not allow any reentering after exiting them. They would serve bottled and canned beverages as well as prepackaged snacks.

The rules for purchasing and attending a suite are very important to obey. They would first require the names of the guest 1 day prior to the event. This guest would have to submit a NEGATIVE Covid test before arriving at the event. They would then have a scheduled time to enter depending on their suite number. The idea is to limit the entering to one suite at a time to minimize exposure. When they are walking in with their tickets, there will also be temperature checks to ensure that no fan entering the building is running a fever or has any other noticeable symptoms. All the tickets will be mobile so there is no physical touching when you enter. If you are looking to transfer your ticket to someone else, it must be done 24 hours in advance so the venue knows every person that is in attendance in the case of an outbreak. There will be sanitizing stations conveniently placed throughout the stadium and in the suites to ensure that everyone is being as safe as possible. Lastly, just as each suite entered in a time slot, they would exit the same way. There would be an announcement for the suites to exist one at a time. In the event of an emergency, fans can leave at any time but would follow a specific path set up just for their suite. They would tell a security guard of their early exit and alert the rest of the guards. This way we can track where each fan is and ensure no other fans are near them.

Fans are desperate to enjoy the luxury of live sports once again. They will do almost anything to get in and opening the suites may be the first step. Keeping them socially distanced and following the guidelines is the best and safest way for the fans to enjoy their favorite events. We are hoping to be able to open up events fully to the public soon, but until then, this idea may work in the meantime.