The NFL Now Has Its First COVID-19 Outbreak

The NFL is facing its first COVID-19 outbreak, after at least nine members of the Tennessee Titans tested positive for the virus in the past four days, according to ESPN. The Titans played the Minnesota Vikings in Minneapolis on Sunday, and on Tuesday, as news of the results broke, both teams closed their practice facilities, with the Titans shutting down until Saturday at the earliest. The league hasn’t yet made an announcement about what will happen with the teams’ next two games, both scheduled for Sunday.

Some professional sports leagues have restarted play during the coronavirus pandemic by making use of a bubble where games and players are contained, but like the MLB, the NFL has maintained a travel schedule. Some fans have attended games based on local restrictions, and as the AP noted on Tuesday, the Titans were meant to have about 7,000 attendees for their upcoming home game, later expanding to 8,500 and then 10,000 in future games. Last week, several NFL head coaches were fined $100,000 for not wearing face masks on the sidelines.

Despite the circumstances and slips, the league had avoided this level of outbreak so far. As the Wall Street Journal noted, in the NFL’s testing from September 13 to 19, there were no new positives among players and five among other personnel. When the MLB faced similar outbreaks early in its season, games were scrapped and rescheduled.

The news of the Titans’ tests set off a scramble to figure out how the virus was spread and among whom. ESPN noted that linebackers coach Shane Bowen tested positive on Saturday and that Bowen skipped the trip from Nashville to Minneapolis as a result. It’s not known yet whether any members of the Vikings have contracted the virus.

Over the course of the pandemic, as professional sports leagues have grappled with how to continue play, they have also become visible stages for the broader health crisis that has claimed over 200,000 lives in the United States. Shortly after the NBA ended its season on March 10 when players tested positive for COVID-19, pandemic lockdowns became a familiar measure across the country.

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