The show goes on: NFL Draft still scheduled for late April
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has had to make some adjustments to the 2020 NFL Draft, but he won’t be altering the dates for this year’s event. The annual draft will still be held in late April.
On Thursday evening, Goodell sent a memo to NFL teams that the draft will still be held from April 23-25, as previously scheduled. The event will no be held in Las Vegas and there will be no fan events taking place this year.
Instead, the league is looking at alternate options to host and televise the annual event.
“Because of the unique circumstances in our country today, the 2020 Draft will obviously need to be conducted in a different way,” Goodell wrote in the memo. “Already, we have cancelled all public events, we will not be bringing prospects and their families to the Draft, and the Draft itself will be conducted and televised in a way that reflects current conditions.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter shared the full memo from Goodell:
Commissioner Goodell sent out a memo to NFL teams tonight that the draft will go on April 23-25. pic.twitter.com/tYlHo3fKqC
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 26, 2020
The NFL might be one of the least-affected organizations from the current coronavirus pandemic, at least right now. The league was able to complete its season and conduct the NFL Scouting Combine prior to the public health crisis. Now, with the draft being held in a different way, it seems the league will still be able to conduct the annual event without a delay.
The biggest setback for the NFL, so far, is that several pro days were eliminated at college across the country.
The league could be affected if the pandemic continues to stretch into the spring, summer and fall months, too. And, right now, it’s entirely possible that there’s some sort of delay in the 2020 season, though there are no certainties right now.
For now, the league will continue to host the draft on the dates it originally set.