Although the league is adamant about maintaining the current timeline of the 2020 NFL season, they have already acknowledged the prospect of playing without any fans in attendance due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Unfortunately, this could result in a significant loss of revenue.

According to Mike Ozanian of Forbes.com, the NFL would take a $5.5 billion loss if fans are not able to attend games while the economic impact on teas will vary:

“The NFL would lose $5.5 billion of stadium revenue (the sum of tickets, concessions, sponsors, parking and team stores) — or 38 percent of its total revenue — based on figures for the 2018 season … But the impact on the individual teams would vary greatly. For example, the Dallas Cowboys and the New England Patriots would lose over half their total revenue while the Buffalo Bills, the Tennessee Titans and the Cincinnati Bengals would lose less than one-third.

It is safe to say that this is a significant chunk of change that comes straight from the fans' pockets. While the league has put an emphasis on being able to ensure player safety throughout the course of the 2020 campaign, the prospect of losing out on such a staggering amount of money undoubtedly serves as a motivating factor for them to figure out a solution.

The timing of the situation is hardly ideal for teams like the Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders that were set to open the 2020 campaign in their newly-constructed stadiums. Meanwhile, teams that were able to generate some hype this offseason such as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will also be missing out on the expected increase in fan attendance.

Player safety may be paramount when it comes to determining a course of action. However, the looming economic losses will undoubtedly play a huge role in the decision-making process.