The planning for the 2020 NFL season includes a revolutionary, and risky, approach to traveling to road games. Per a league source, multiple teams intend to fly to and from road games on the day of the game.
It’s an idea that has been percolating for a while, something that Peter King floated a couple of months ago. And it could be a reality.
That said, there surely will be limitations. The 49ers play at the Jets in Week Two. It won’t be practical to fly across country, play a game, and fly back.
Weather also will be a factor, which could force a team to change plans at the eleventh hour -- and scramble to find hotel rooms on very short notice. (The way things are going, that may not be hard too do.) Then there’s the possibility of an issue with the plane, which could delay kickoff by several hours, or prevent the game from happening at all on the scheduled date.
Of course, if fans won’t be attending games, it becomes much easier to delay kickoff by several hours or to move a game from Sunday to Monday. If, for example, a thunderstorm can delay a game for hours, why can’t a flight delay do the same?
Whatever the complication, if the NFL decides to play as many of the 256 regular-season games that are scheduled to be played this year as possible, flight delays or other travel issues won’t cause games to be canceled. Only the virus will do that.