Gretchen Witmer, the Governor of Michigan, signed an executive order last week allowing sports teams to return without fans. That directly affects the Detroit Lions, who are entering a pivotal year next season. While some fans may have an issue with it, Witmer isn't going to ‘cancel sports'. But she did admit that sports could look different in 2020.
During an appearance on 97.1 The Ticket, Witmer spoke about how important it is to return to normalcy in a safe manner:
“It’s really important that we resume some normalcy, but do it in a safe manner,” the Michigan politician said. “I’ve had people say, ‘Oh, you’re gonna cancel sports.’ I said, ‘C’mon, let’s keep our wits about us. I’m not gonna to cancel sports, but we’re going to watch it differently.’ And that’s for our safety. And maybe this is one season of doing it this way, but it’s the smart way to do it to keep the athletes safe, keep the sport going and give us the ability to enjoy it.”
The NFL, similar to Witmer, is beginning to realize that full stadiums likely aren't a reality in 2020. Therefore, some teams are holding off on selling tickets or even postponing their season ticket packages until 2021.
On top of that, the NFL is tarping off the first few rows of stadiums to display advertisements. This is a ploy for the league to make some of the money back that they'll lose in the upcoming season.
With training camps scheduled to begin next month, including the Lions, the NFL needs to lay out guidelines for how games are going to be conducted. Even though the league wants to have as many fans as possible in attendance, the Michigan Governor realizes that it's likely not safe to do so.
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