Finally got it

Spiny Norman · Post by **Spiny Norman** » Sun Jun 07, 2020 2:16 am

I've got it, figured out the answer to how we get an NFL season in 2020. Vexed me for awhile, but got it.

We know there won't be a vaccine by September, and with one coming in early 2021 there will be no point to issuing "immunity passports" which was a dumb idea to begin with. So how to play NFL games, with no spectators allowed?

One nutty idea is to let fans gather in the vast parking lots of NFL stadia with a big screen, like a drive-in movie. Sounds fun, but think it through. It would turn out to be a tailgate party, but with 4 extra hours when the site staff has zero control over alcohol consumption. Stunningly bad idea. 12% of road wins would end in mob attacks on the visiting victor's team bus.

No, the answer is to let spectators in, but use a smaller venue, where access is easier to control and where the local/state health department's recommendations can be expressed. The answer is to use high school football fields for NFL games in 2020.

There are some very nice football fields in very many towns across the USA, and they're all 100 yards long. If you pick one that seats 2,000 then you can put up 5-foot spacers along the bleachers, much easier than blocking 3 seats out of four in a 92,000 seat NFL stadium. That reassures all the armchair doctors watching on tv nationwide, who are numerous nowadays. Still can get 1,500 spectators in a high school field.

Only sell tickets to people who currently have HS kids in the school district. Obviously, it'd sell out. Assmuing the NFL "home" team selects the HS stadium to use, it would be nearby and thus most of the folks getting tickets would be fans already, so few would resell their tickets. With fewer folks coming in from out of town, local authorities would not be overwhelmed.

Of those who do resell their tickets, some could get a pretty penny, which is a nice thank-you from the NFL to their local communities. In other words, "Thank You for helping us grow to become a trillion-dollar sport over the past 101 years, so for this one season, we're giving back."

I'm not saying that it's all happy flowers and a heart-warming charity here. No, there is vast money to be made while giving back to the community. Just reserve 60 tickets for each team, to auction in blocks of 4, then both NFL teams earn $5 million in ticket sales. The value of the broadcast rights shoots through the ceiling, local businesses get a boost, and 256 high school football programs become part of NFL history. Even that can be leveraged into money, over the long haul.