By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
This was supposed to be the week that the Strip would be closed at Flamingo Boulevard, the mighty NFL would take over Las Vegas and tens of thousands of football-crazed fans would pack the Strip to see future NFLers walk a red carpet on a stage in the middle of the Bellagio fountains with the draft announcements next-door over at Caesars Forum.
The NFL Draft was supposed to put Las Vegas in the brights lights of the sports universe from Thursday to Saturday, cementing this market as a big-time major league player.
Well, it turned out the $16 billion-a-year NFL — like the rest of the world’s sports industry — was no match for a coronavirus pandemic that claimed the lives for more than 41,000 Americans.
Instead of the NFL installing a stage in the Bellagio fountains and shuttling draft picks via boat from Las Vegas Boulevard to a red carpet stage LVSportsBiz.com saw a duck swimming in the water in front of the Bellagio hotel-casino last week.
Fringe groups of anti-quarantine protesters visited state capitals to re-open businesses as nurses and doctors risk their lives to save people infected with COVID-19. This country has sacrificed too much during lockdowns in most states to re-start the nation too quickly. This photograph in downtown Denver by freelance photographer Alyson McClaran captures the showdown between the healthcare system keeping people alive and flag-waving Americans who believe it’s time to re-start America.
Does it suck that LVSportsBiz.com is not reporting on the spectacle of the NFL Draft taking over the Strip? Of course it does, but social distancing is the only way to lower the spread and threat of a new virus that is remarkable in its ability to be transmitted from person to person. It also is attacking more than just people’s respiratory systems. Doctors are reporting that the novel coronavirus causes blood clots and attacks the heart, too.
The NFL Draft, which will now feature Commissioner Roger Goodell announcing draft picks from his suburban New York City house, has also called for unity. Check out the league’s Twitter post Monday afternoon.
Even if states want to phase on re-opened businesses, it’s unclear if Americans would rush out to pack businesses given that infected people can unknowingly spread the virus if they are asymptomatic. A Seton Hall University poll drew lots of publicity recently when it showed that 72 percent of Americans would not attend a pro sports game if a vaccine was not developed.
You are your own personal risk management boss. Guard your health. Business is business and we need money to pay the bills. Your health is priceless. Be safe, be healthy and be united behind the doctors, nurses and health care workers saving lives.
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