SBJ Unpacks: Few Cases In NFL Camps, But Concerns Persist

Tonight in SBJ Unpacks: The NFL's latest test results confirmed zero cases among players, but the high number of false positives raises concerns across the league.

Also:

• Jerry Jones still committed to hosting fans at AT&T Stadium
• NHL exec Steve Mayer on the league's success with the bubbles
• AHL, ECHL execs grapple with fan capacity outlook for 2020-2021 seasons
• Paul Azinger, Brandel Chamblee weigh in on Mickelson's TV chops
• Martina Navratilova on a U.S. Open like no other
• Strat-O-Matic president on the old game's new tricks

FEW COVID CASES IN NFL CAMPS FOLLOWING FALSE POSITIVES

• The NFL reported zero confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 among players from Aug. 12-20, and six confirmed cases among staffers, per SBJ’s Ben Fischer. The league conducted 58,397 tests (23,260 for players, 35,137 for staff) in that time period, working out to a 0.01% positive test rate -- down from a .46 positive rate during the first two weeks of camp.
  
  
• Also today, the NFL said that none of the 77 positive test results reported to the NFL by BioReference Laboratories over the weekend were real cases, confirming they were false positives caused by contamination in the lab that has since been identified and corrected. “Players, coaches, staff are doing a phenomenal job following our protocols, and our protocols are working, and the events of this weekend shouldn’t change that view,” said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills.
  
  
• However, the weekend raised new questions about the tests’ reliability, and what would happen if a positive test couldn’t be definitively confirmed before game time once the season begins on Sept. 10. The NFL and NFLPA are still discussing when the final pre-game tests would be administered during the season. Had this weekend’s events unfolded with a slate of Sunday afternoon games looming, players may have had to miss games despite not actually having the virus. 

JERRY JONES STILL COMMITTED TO HOST FANS AT AT&T STADIUM

• Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones continues to reiterate that he expects to have some fans at games this season, pointing to the "fresh air" and "openness" of AT&T Stadium, per the Dallas Morning News. Jones: "Think of a lot of room. A lot of space. ... When I think about playing our games out there, I want our fans to think of all the space. ... My point is space is what we’re trying to take advantage of." He continued, "Nobody has to be in those stands or in that stadium that doesn’t want to be there. Nobody that’s uncomfortable not being there should be there."

• Approximately 2,000 Chiefs season-ticket members showed up Saturday morning for Day 9 of the team's training camp at Arrowhead Stadium, marking the "first time during this year’s camp that the Super Bowl champions had allowed fans to attend a practice," per the K.C. Star. It was a "festive atmosphere," although the Chiefs "limited the number of fans who were allowed to attend and installed numerous protocols with safety and social-distancing measures in mind." Masks were "supposed to be mandatory for fans," but some spectators were observed either "wearing masks improperly or not wearing them at all, even when they weren’t actively eating or drinking."
  
  
• Meanwhile, Bills coach Sean McDermott today "took issue with the disparity" that will exist with some NFL teams having fans in their stadiums this year and others not. He said it is “ridiculous that there will be that, on the surface, what appears to be a playing field that’s like that, inconsistently across the league with the different away stadiums." McDermott: "It is what it is. We control what we can control."

NHL'S STEVE MAYER ON LIFE IN THE BUBBLE

• Each day, players, coaches and essential NHL staff walk from one of three downtown Edmonton hotels to Rogers Place, home to the Oilers and, for the last month, the NHL’s Western conference bubble. The NHL is on an astonishing streak of more than a month without a single player, coach or staff member testing positive for COVID-19 within its fenced off, closely policed environments in Edmonton or Toronto. 
  
  
• NHL Executive VP and Chief Content Officer Steve Mayer spoke to SBJ’s Bill King about exactly how that bubble works, and what the league had done to produce the compelling television that emanates from within it daily, on the latest episode of the SBJ Unpacks podcast. 
  
  
• “I’m not going to sit here and say, man, this is great,” said Mayer, whose events division spearheaded the design and creation of the bubbles in both Canadian cities. “It’s very hard. Mentally, when you walk to work in a fenced area, it gets to you after a while. There aren’t a lot of places to go. We did a great job of giving a variety in restaurants and some activities. But if you went to the nicest resort in the world and you were there for 41 days, you’d get bored after a while. I’m sorry. I kind of use that as (an) analogy. It’s hard. It’s wearing."
  
  
• More Mayer: "The greatest thing about what we’re all doing here is the games. We love hockey. We love the NHL. And working games is unbelievable. It’s so awesome. When we had three games a day the days were going fast and we just loved what we were doing. We hope that people love the presentation going on and there’s a lot of work that goes into that just by itself. Now that it’s one game a day, it’s a little harder.”

AHL, ECHL GRAPPLE WITH FAN CAPACITY OUTLOOK

• Execs from the AHL and ECHL -- the ‘AAA’ and ‘AA’ of pro hockey in North America, respectively -- are grappling with the thought of what an in-arena fan experience might look like for the 2020-21 campaign, reports SBJ’s Mark J. Burns. Both leagues have a targeted start date of Dec. 4. 
  
  
• First-year AHL President & CEO Scott Howson, whose league has teams in 16 states and three provinces, said playing pro sports is permitted in most of the league’s markets, but fan capacity is another issue. Howson: “That’s something we’re going to have to decide at some point. Does that make sense for our league? Are we going to be able to play? If that’s the case, how many teams? Do we want to operate with limited or no fans?” It’s a question that’ll be even more seriously discussed in late September and early October as the league determines a scheduling format.
  
  
• Meanwhile, ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin said that he doesn't think a season without fans makes sense for the league, which features teams from two Canadian provinces and 19 states. Crelin: “It’s not who we are from a business perspective. It’s not who we are from a community perspective. It’s not who we are from a product perspective. We sell entertainment and atmosphere and player access and if that’s out of the equation, I just don’t see it making sense."

AZINGER, CHAMBLEE TOUT PHIL MICKELSON'S BOOTH POTENTIAL

• It's been just over two weeks since Phil Mickelson stole the show at the PGA Championship when he joined Jim Nantz and Nick Faldo in the CBS booth. What did NBC's Paul Azinger think of Lefty's performance, and would he welcome Mickelson calling a few holes alongside him at any point during an upcoming tournament?
  
  
• Azinger, who is set to call this week's BMW Championship on NBC, told SBJ's Thomas Leary, "I love Phil. I thought he was awesome in the booth. He can do that anytime he wants. He and Faldo went at it ... kind of like Faldo and I used to. It’s nice to have a foil sometimes. … I thought it was hilarious and some of the most-compelling golf I’ve watched."
  
  
• Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee drew an NFL comparison for Mickelson, even if the PGA at Harding Park presented ideal circumstances. Chamblee: "Look, he’s right off the golf course. He’s just played it, he’s a bright guy -- it setup perfectly for him. But honestly, he could get in the booth and be Tony Romo-esque. … He’ll admit this. He’s got a little BS in him. He wants to figure things out. He wants to give you the needle. He wants to have fun. He enjoys all the smack talk in the game, and that makes for great commentating. He’d have tremendous insight."
  
  
• Azinger: "The thing about Phil was he let the picture be descriptive. This is what works. Let the picture be descriptive, you be informative. The second the ball was hit Mickelson knew exactly what was coming next. He let the viewer know and it was the kind of insight that only a guy who’s active can really give. The future in broadcasting is going to be somebody like a Mickelson who’s still really active."

NAVRATILOVA SET TO COVER U.S. OPEN REMOTELY

• Martina Navratilova is set to call the U.S. Open for Tennis Channel from her Florida home, breaking her streak of being on-site for every major the channel has covered since the 2007 French Open.
  
  
• With severely limited media access at the Open this year, Navratilova won’t be able to pop into the Tennis Channel production truck to watch matches. She told SBJ's Bret McCormick, “It's just going to be weird. It's weird for everybody. We're just adjusting to a new situation. Try to make the most of it without stressing too much.”
  
  
• In years past for the U.S. Open, Tennis Channel would have a set perched in a loft at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Navratilova would be on-set as part of "Tennis Channel Live" alongside host Brett Haber and Jim Courier. She’ll still work with Haber and Courier this year, just via Skype. “Champions adjust, as Billie Jean King says. Tennis Channel has adjusted to the situation for me,” said Navratilova. “I can sleep in because we were getting up at 5 in the morning to do our show from 8 to 11. Now the show is 10 to 11. My makeup won't be as good ...(But) make the most out of a tricky situation. At least I can sleep longer.”

OUTSIDE CONTRIBUTORS: CREATIVE OUTREACH

• Tonight's op-ed contribution is from Strat-O-Matic President Adam Richman, who writes under the header, "Can You Teach An Old Game New Tricks? For Strat-O-Matic, The Answer Is Yes."
  
  
• Richman: "As someone who has grown up around the business, and the game, but has ventured off into other successful ventures in film and television, I often wondered when, if ever, we could make a pivot with Strat-O-Matic. Then came the pandemic. It was a moment not just to have our game literally replace the games, but for us to go further, to give fans of all ages a slice of normalcy using not just our game play BUT all the data that we could run in simulations which we have done for years in trying to refine the real-life characteristics of our game that did not exist anywhere else."
  
  
• To read the full contribution, click here.

SPEED READS

• Late this afternoon, BioReference Laboratories announced it is looking to fill vacancies at its New Jersey HQ. The company, which handles COVID testing for the NFL, NBA and MLS, tweeted, "BioRefefence needs 200+ people to fill 4 roles in our Elmwood Park, NJ lab. Start as a temp and earn $14/hour + more depending on shift/day."
  
  
• The Islanders set an all-time record last week for full season ticket sales -- both financially and sheer volume of buyers -- writes SBJ’s Mark J. Burns. For UBS Arena at Belmont Park, the club is nearing 10,000 full season tickets as it opens up its new venue beginning with the 2021-22 season. Only 20% of season tickets remain for the first year. Two years ago, the Islanders only had around 3,500 full season tickets. Just in the last two weeks, which has included the team defeating the Capitals and punching its ticket to the second round of the NHL playoffs against the Flyers, the Islanders have sold over a third of its suite inventory for the new arena. 
  
  

• The Mets will resume play tomorrow after "having their last four games postponed because two members of their traveling party tested positive for the coronavirus." MLB said that all of the Mets' subsequent tests, including those taken yesterday, "have been negative." 
  
  
• International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons said that "no nation will miss the rescheduled Tokyo Paralympics for financial reasons," next August, as concerns over the pandemic have "cast a cloud over the Para-sport movement." Parsons said, "We want to avoid a situation where a nation cannot compete because of finances. The more sophisticated NPCs (National Paralympic Committees) are the ones who are struggling most because they have different revenue streams through commercial and broadcasting which have been affected."
  
  
• MLB has forged on with its season amid coronavirus outbreaks on several teams, and there is "one obvious reason why MLB is so eager to keep going: the money that will come with this year's expanded playoff format," according to the Wall Street Journal's Jared Diamond. While the extra playoff inventory "will certainly bring in revenue in the form of expensive television-rights fees," the new format means that there "will be some teams on baseball's biggest stage who ... don't really deserve to be there."

NEWS YOU NEED FROM SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY

• During this crisis impacting the sports business, we want everyone to be up-to-date on the latest news and information. Select stories from Sports Business Daily are free, outside the paywall, for the foreseeable future. Below are today's headlines:
  
  
  • NFL's False-Positive Situation Offers Chance To Refine Testing System
  • Hard Rock Stadium Protocols Pave Way For Fans At Games
  • Sources: RedBall Raises $575M; Could Eye Stake In Liverpool

SBJ UNPACKS -- THE ROAD AHEAD

• Check out the most recent editions of our "SBJ Unpacks" podcasts around COVID-19:
  
  
  
  • NHL Executive Vice President & Chief Content Officer Steve Mayer on planning for the league’s bubble and broadcasting a product viewers have enjoyed. 
    
    
  • Former NFL player turned activist Benjamin Watson on what he is helping to implement in this time of social unrest.
    
    
  • Eric Prisbell on MLB potentially implementing a bubble for the final week of the regular season.
    

--- AXS SPORTS FACILITIES & FRANCHISES & TICKETING SYMPOSIUM ---

September 22-23, 2020

Virtual Program

Announcing the 2020 AXS Sports Facilities & Franchises & Ticketing Symposium agenda.  To view the agenda or to learn more, visit www.SportsFacilitiesandFranchises.com.

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