NFL, Packers proceeding with business as usual, but know adjustments might be needed

GREEN BAY – The NFL and the Green Bay Packers are proceeding under the assumption they will play a 16-game season this year in full stadiums. Whether they will start the season that way, much less finish it, depends on too many variables to calculate, but they say they have to start somewhere.

"You need to continue to work off your normal plan so you can get your other benchmarks completed," said Aaron Popkey, Packers director of public affairs. "As we make our own plans for our season, we continue to track appropriately other developments. We’ll make adjustments as needed."

Wisconsin and other states with NFL teams are under various levels of stay-at-home orders in efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Professional, college and high school sports have been shut down since March. 

The Packers are monitoring the efforts of other professional leagues to navigate the crisis. NBA teams are expected to allow access to practice facilities Friday in some markets and Major League Baseball is trying to figure out how to at least have an attenuated season. 

"Protocols and safety measures are being developed across all sports and by large-gathering venues," Popkey said.

The schedule, released Thursday, has the Packers hosting one game in September, one in October, three in November, two in December and one in January, in addition to the Notre Dame-Wisconsin college game in early October.

Season tickets holders are required to pay their invoices by June 1, a deadline extended earlier from the end of March. Popkey said a majority already have paid, although did not provide a percentage.

The team does not anticipate moving the deadline again, a decision driven in part by the processes in place to print and mail paper tickets, and to fill any season ticket vacancies with people off the waiting list. Those steps must be completed before the beginning of preseason games in mid-August.

The team has said it will refund ticket holders for canceled games or games held without fans, or the money can be carried over to next season. 

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Popkey said the team will establish attendance protocols consistent with public health guidance at the time.

"We’ll certainly have increased safety measures for players, personnel and attendees," Popkey said. "We will have the games in a safe and efficient manner. Decisions will be made based on the latest advice of medical and public health officials."

For now, NFL stadiums and offices are closed, a leaguewide mandate designed to create a level playing field for all teams, and an approach that could have a significant effect on the season if some states continue or reinstate no-gather policies after play begins.

The Miami Dolphins recently released a contingency plan for games employing a heavy dose of social distancing. It envisions allowing about one-fourth as many fans into the  sanitized stadium with tightly controlled entrance and exit procedures.

Popkey said it's too soon to know how teams will proceed. 

"All those decisions will be based on the latest advice of medical and public health officials as well as being in compliance with current and future government regulations," he said.  

Locally, much will depend on Gov. Tony Evers' Badger Bounce Back plan, which sets benchmarks for businesses reopening and for how many people can take part in public gatherings. The governor's safer-at-home order is set to expire May 26.

Also to be taken into account is the number of people who normally come to Green Bay for games. An economic impact study done in 2009 found that more than 80% of Packers crowds came from 50 miles or more. Whether that will be the case this year is unknown, but it's also something community officials must take into account in efforts to combat the spread of coronavirus.

As for the schedule itself, it may be the most unusual the Packers have had in many years. 

Highlights and lowlights:

• Four of last six games are at Lambeau Field.
• Four of the first six games are on the road.
• For the seventh consecutive year, the Packers start the season with a maximum five prime-time games.
• An Aaron Rodgers-Tom Brady matchup is scheduled for Oct. 18 in Tampa Bay.
• A rematch with the San Francisco 49ers, who beat Packers twice in 2019 on the way to the Super Bowl, is scheduled for Nov. 5 on "Thursday Night Football." It follows by four days a Packers-Vikings game at Lambeau Field.
• The Oct. 5 "Monday Night Football" game against the Atlanta Falcons at Lambeau Field is two days after Notre Dame plays Wisconsin at Lambeau Field.
• Gold Package season ticket holders, who are mostly from southern Wisconsin, get two night games this year, the Falcons game on Oct. 5 and Nov. 29 against the Chicago Bears. 
• The Packers will open the season in Minnesota for the first time in the 60-year history of the Vikings.
• Also, the Packers are included for the first time in the NFL's 2-year-old program of scheduled NFL Network double- and triple-headers in weeks 15 and 16. The game against the Carolina Panthers will be played Dec. 19 to 20. The NFL designated five games that it can pick from each weekend and this year the Packers are part of that. They'll find out when they play at least four weeks before the game.

Contact Richard Ryman at (920) 431-8342 or rryman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG/