The world has certainly changed since the start of 2020, and thus, sports has had to adapt drastically, and even further adjustments are expected as time progresses. With the NFL managing to seamlessly pulling off the 2020 NFL Draft over the weekend — albeit 100 percent virtually — the league might be forced to make a few changes to the schedule, including the Super Bowl, depending on how the landscape changes throughout the year.
Although the NFL would obviously like to start its regular season on time in early September, a recent article by John Ourand and Ben Fischer at Sports Business Daily suggests that the Super Bowl could be pushed back considerably.
“In one version, the start of the season could be delayed by up to five weeks with relatively few adjustments … Such a scenario would have Super Bowl LV, currently set for Feb. 7, 2021 in Tampa, pushed back by three weeks. Two weeks of early-season games could be shifted wholesale to the end of the season. A third week would feature teams only playing opponents with the same bye week, so that week could be cut and byes eliminated leaguewide.
“These contingency-laden plans also include cutting the weekend between the conference championships and the Super Bowl, where the Pro Bowl is typically played, to allow another week to be lost to delays. Under such a plan, the Pro Bowl would not be played. Specific conversations have occurred with Tampa hosts about delaying the Super Bowl by one week to Feb. 14, but a source said the last two weeks of February are in play as well.”
Of course, the NFL is very much concerned with the continued safety of its players, additional personnel and fans while everyone would be impacted if the league were forced to make drastic scheduling changes for next season.
However, there is still plenty of time to figure out the logistics behind the whole season — Super Bowl included. And none of the contingencies being discussed have been made final as the entire situation remains fluid as it currently stands.
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