Could the NFL really play games with no fans this coming season? It seems like a possibility. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, there has been speculation that the 2020 NFL campaign could begin without fans in the seats, and New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton thinks that would be really weird:
“If we're playing without fans, it's like that meme with the crickets just sitting there rubbing their legs,” said Payton, according to Katherine Terrell of The Athletic. “It's going to be different. … That impacts us a little bit because we're one of those places that's hard to play.”
Sports in general have been put on hold right now. The 2019-20 NBA and NHL seasons were both suspended back in mid-March and have yet to return, and the start of the MLB season has been pushed back.
The good news is that the NFL campaign does not begin until September, so there is plenty of time between now and then for things to get straightened out.
Also, NFL teams have slowly begun to open up their facilities, so things do seem to be looking up.
The Saints are coming off of a season in which they won 12 games and captured their third straight NFC South division title. However, they also suffered their third straight devastating postseason exit, falling to the Minnesota Vikings in overtime in the Wild Card Round.
It marked the second time in three years that the Vikings had knocked the Saints out of the playoffs, with the first instance coming on Stefon Diggs' last-second touchdown in January 2018.
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