When Will the NFL Season Start?

The answer to the question on every football fan’s mind: when will the NFL season start?

Introduction

The National Football League (NFL) is America’s most popular sports league, with tens of millions of fans across the country.

One of the most common questions we get asked here at Fansided is “When will the NFL season start?”

The answer to that question is a bit complicated, as there are a number of factors that go into determining when the season will start.

First and foremost among those factors is the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the NFL and its players, which governs everything from player salaries to the length of the season.

The current CBA was agreed upon in 2011, and runs through the 2020 season. It stipulates that the regular season will consist of 17 weeks, with each team playing 16 games and having one bye week.

The regular season will begin on a Thursday night in early September and run through late December or early January. The exact date of the start of the season has varied somewhat over the years, but has generally been between September 1 and September 10.

The NFL has also used a similar format for its playoff schedule, with four rounds of playoffs culminating in the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is typically played on the first Sunday in February.

So, based on all of that, we can narrow down when the NFL season might start in 2020 to some time between September 1 and February 7. However, there are a few other factors that could affect that timeline.

One is television contracts. The NFL’s television partners (NBC, CBS, FOX, and ESPN) pay billions of dollars for the right to broadcast NFL games, and they obviously want to get their money’s worth by having as many people watching as possible.

As such, they sometimes exert pressure on the league to start the season earlier or later than usual in order to maximize viewership. For example, this year’s Super Bowl was played on February 3 instead of February 7 in order to avoid going head-to-head with NBC’s broadcast of the Winter Olympics.

Another factor that could affect when the 2020 NFL season starts is labor unrest. The current CBA runs through 2020, but either side can opt out after 2019 if they so choose. If either side decides to do so, it could lead to a work stoppage (i.e., a strike or lockout), which would delaysthe start oftheseason

What Has Been Delayed

The start of the 2020 NFL season has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The regular season was originally scheduled to begin on September 10, 2020, but has been pushed back to September 17, 2020. The preseason has also been shortened, with only two games being played instead of the usual four.

How the NFL Season Will Be Impacted

How the NFL Season Will Be Impacted
The NFL season is set to start on September 10th, but it could be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The league has said that it is monitoring the situation and preparing for all contingency plans.

One of the main concerns is how to keep players and staff safe. The NFL has already implemented some changes, such as prohibiting fans from attending training camps and preseason games. The league is also considering other measures, such as playing games in empty stadiums or limiting attendance at games.

Another issue that could impact the season is player safety. With no preseason games, players will not have had a chance to properly prepare for the season physically. This could lead to more injuries during the regular season.

TheNFL has said that it is committed to playing a full season, but it remains to be seen how the pandemic will impact the league in the coming months.

When the Season Is Expected to Start

The NFL is expected to release its schedule for the 2020 season sometime in May, but it’s possible that the release date could be pushed back due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The league has said that it is still planning to have a full season, but it has not yet announced when that season will start. The league has also said that it is looking at all options for the season, including playing games in empty stadiums or moving the start of the season to later in the year.

It is still unclear how the pandemic will affect the NFL’s plans for the 2020 season, but it is possible that the league will announce its schedule sometime in May.

Conclusion

The Sun Belt is moving its conference championship game to Saturday, Dec. 19, which could affect the NFL schedule. If the NFL pushes back its season start date, that would open up a potential day for the Sun Belt to play. The NFL has not yet made a decision on when the season will start.