2020 NFL: Post Season Bubble in LA & Dallas?

soxhop411

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The NFL is discussing options for a postseason bubble following weeks of rescheduled games due to positive COVID-19 tests, sources told The Athletic. Los Angeles and Dallas are two cities that have been discussed, sources said, based on their facilities, hotel space and climates. The Los Angeles Rams opened the $5 billion SoFi Stadium this season, and the Dallas Cowboys have played in $1.3 billion AT&T Stadium since 2009, and opened their $1.5 billion Ford Center at The Star multi-use complex, which has multiple practice fields, in 2016.
https://theathletic.com/news/nfl-discussing-postseason-bubble-los-angeles-dallas/vv24DQ9sxPlYSo does that mean the playoffs will have no or limited fans?
 

Gunfighter 09

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I'm biased, but wouldn't Vegas be a better option for a bubble, considering how easy it would be for the NFL to get their hands on a thousand or so rooms for players and staff? At the very least, it seems like it would be easy to combine with a hypothetical LA bubble.
 

amfox1

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There are six games on wild card weekend, so I would assume there would need to be three locations for wc weekend. The league should strive to have only four teams at each bubble location.
 

luckiestman

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There are six games on wild card weekend, so I would assume there would need to be three locations for wc weekend. The league should strive to have only four teams at each bubble location.

Why not 2 and play 2 on Monday.

Seems easier than adding on a location
 

Ale Xander

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I'm biased, but wouldn't Vegas be a better option for a bubble, considering how easy it would be for the NFL to get their hands on a thousand or so rooms for players and staff? At the very least, it seems like it would be easy to combine with a hypothetical LA bubble.
night temps and lack of casinos across the street tilt in Dallas' favor (over LV for the 2nd spot with LA)
 

Humphrey

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I think it has to be 2 sites unless they want to move teams from site to site after the first round. If two sites, three teams leave each site after the first weekend; and one team arrives (the team w/the best overall record in each conference).

The other thing that complicates having more than two sites is, unless it was changed for this year; they re-seed after the first round.
 

Saints Rest

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Couldn’t you just do one conference in each site?
It would be tricky to do with just one stadium, especially because of practice fields. 7 teams in one city, means roughly 1000 people to house/feed/train/etc.

I don't know a typical NFL practice day, but I imagine it's pretty close to 12 hours for film sessions, practices, treatments, position group coaching, etc. That means needing 7 facilities with reputable fields and locker rooms/training rooms/weight rooms.

Theoretically, the game schedule would have to look like this on WC weekend:
(all times Eastern)
Sat: 1pm -- AFC; 4:30p -- NFC; 8:00pm -- AFC
Sun: 1pm -- NFC; 4:30p -- AFC; 8:00p -- NFC
 

BaseballJones

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LA would have to be one of those cities. You've got SoFi stadium, the StubHub center, and even the LA Coliseum, all of which could totally work for this purpose. Plus, being obviously a major US city, there's tons of hotel space.
 

Bosoxen

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Another point in Dallas's favor is that the Frisco area is really popular for conferences - I have no idea why - so there are a ton of hotels within a half mile radius of the Star complex. The area could easily accommodate 6 teams for wild card weekend, plus all support staff.

As for the games, you could have Saturday games at AT&T Stadium and the Ford Center and then a Sunday game at AT&T. The Ford Center seats far fewer people but a bubble implies there would likely be no fans anyway.
 

johnmd20

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Another point in Dallas's favor is that the Frisco area is really popular for conferences - I have no idea why - so there are a ton of hotels within a half mile radius of the Star complex. The area could easily accommodate 6 teams for wild card weekend, plus all support staff.

As for the games, you could have Saturday games at AT&T Stadium and the Ford Center and then a Sunday game at AT&T. The Ford Center seats far fewer people but a bubble implies there would likely be no fans anyway.
For the first weekend, you would need room for 3 games. The schedule will be different this year. I guess you could play 2 games at one stadium, one game at 1pm and the the night game. Probably enough time for a cleaning, assuming the stadium won't have too many fans. If they have fans, this will be tough to pull off but not impossible.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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Another point in Dallas's favor is that the Frisco area is really popular for conferences - I have no idea why - so there are a ton of hotels within a half mile radius of the Star complex. The area could easily accommodate 6 teams for wild card weekend, plus all support staff.

As for the games, you could have Saturday games at AT&T Stadium and the Ford Center and then a Sunday game at AT&T. The Ford Center seats far fewer people but a bubble implies there would likely be no fans anyway.
Because its San Francisco and the tech world loves that area. I've been to way too many conventions at the Marscone center. It does have pretty convenient access to lots of hotels and the airport.
 

Bosoxen

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For the first weekend, you would need room for 3 games. The schedule will be different this year. I guess you could play 2 games at one stadium, one game at 1pm and the the night game. Probably enough time for a cleaning, assuming the stadium won't have too many fans. If they have fans, this will be tough to pull off but not impossible.
Yeah I'm not sure about fans. Texas would allow them but California wouldn't (or at least it's safe to assume so, given our current trajectory). I find it hard to believe the NFL would allow fans for one set of games but not for the others. Then again, it is the NFL, so who the hell knows.

Because its San Francisco and the tech work lokes that area. I've been to way too many conventions at the Marscone center. It does have pretty convenient access to lots of hotels and the airport.
I was referring to Frisco, TX, which is a suburb of Dallas and where the Cowboys' practice facility is located.

Edit: Missed it by that much!
 

Ale Xander

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LA would have to be one of those cities. You've got SoFi stadium, the StubHub center, and even the LA Coliseum, all of which could totally work for this purpose. Plus, being obviously a major US city, there's tons of hotel space.
Hoping the locals can give details to this point.

Have they built any nice hotels in the last 2 years in Inglewood? I doubt it.
I also doubt they'd want to put the NFL together with the unwashed masses in El Segundo/LAX, which is pretty much the only concentration of hotels that's relatively close in my touristy glasses. Good luck fighting traffic to get to the Fairmont Santa Monica or the Beverly.

I think LA should be the #1 choice, but that's for climate and airport and support of NFLPA (see, Lakers) reasons. LA has a problem with red tape with building residential buildings, and I think it also affects lack of hotels for a city of its size and wealth, especially in smaller, nice, suburbs.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Forget California. Do it where you can at least have some fans, it makes a huge difference for the atmosphere.
Exactly. Tell the 16 NFL teams to be locked in a bubble so they can have fans in the seats! Does Alabama have the ability to host this?
 

Saints Rest

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I still think the hardest part would be finding 7 separate, and relatively equal, practice facilities in the same general area. Presumably by January, college football would be over, so possibly you could use facilities at major CFB colleges, but that may make it hard to ensure the sanctity of the bubble.
 

Ale Xander

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It also almost has to be LA, because Sofi cost $5.5Billion and they need to get some kind of revenue.
 

Captaincoop

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Exactly. Tell the 16 NFL teams to be locked in a bubble so they can have fans in the seats! Does Alabama have the ability to host this?
I'm not sure what your point is. The fans and players are completely separate. It would be stupid to have games in a place where you can host zero fans in an 80,000 seat, outdoor venue.
 

j-man

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I'm biased, but wouldn't Vegas be a better option for a bubble, considering how easy it would be for the NFL to get their hands on a thousand or so rooms for players and staff? At the very least, it seems like it would be easy to combine with a hypothetical LA bubble.
yes it wouild vegas is a great stauidm better than la
 

ElUno20

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Hoping the locals can give details to this point.

Have they built any nice hotels in the last 2 years in Inglewood? I doubt it.
I also doubt they'd want to put the NFL together with the unwashed masses in El Segundo/LAX, which is pretty much the only concentration of hotels that's relatively close in my touristy glasses. Good luck fighting traffic to get to the Fairmont Santa Monica or the Beverly.

I think LA should be the #1 choice, but that's for climate and airport and support of NFLPA (see, Lakers) reasons. LA has a problem with red tape with building residential buildings, and I think it also affects lack of hotels for a city of its size and wealth, especially in smaller, nice, suburbs.
Inglewood hasnt yet leveled all the minorities living near the stadium. They're pricing everyone out first but with the clipps stadium coming, the nice guy routine is ending soon.

Semi serious note, the "LA" people who dont live here think of does not exist. The 3 sites listed above are all in areas so far apart and inconvenient plus not enough hoteling for the "high" end NFL people.

Just go to Jerry's world and leave us be.
 

djbayko

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LA would have to be one of those cities. You've got SoFi stadium, the StubHub center, and even the LA Coliseum, all of which could totally work for this purpose. Plus, being obviously a major US city, there's tons of hotel space.
The Rose Bowl too. Are hotels in the immeidate vicinity that big of an issue? How many fans are we really expecting in CA, if any at all?
 

Bosoxen

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I really hope they'd use the Cotton Bowl before the Ford Center.
Depends whether they'd want the game indoors or not. The Cotton Bowl should be second on the list behind the Death Star if they are going to have fans in attendance. Unless they can somehow manage to use Globe Life Field. Which wouldn't be a bad idea.
 

Awesome Fossum

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I wouldn't prefer it to the Cotton Bowl, but they could definitely use the original Globe Life Park. Renovated for football/soccer and was used by the XFL this spring.

 

djbayko

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I found this update amusing.

NFL's chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills against shifting to bubble environment

He's 100% correct. There's absolutely NO evidence that a sports league bubble could possibly work! /sarcasm

This smells like Goodell telling him not to recommend it because it's too costly/difficult. Whack-a-mole strategy it is!

The NFL's chief medical officer came down hard Tuesday against shifting to a bubble environment amid the league's run of positive COVID-19 test results, saying it wouldn't be foolproof and citing the mental health risks of an extended period of social isolation.
He added: "I think we all have to recognize that there are no perfect [solutions] here. First of all, a bubble is not going to keep out all infections. You still have other individuals that come in and out: service workers, security, other personnel. And we've known from other experiences that those individuals can be infected. So simply being in a bubble doesn't keep us safe. We still have to do all these measures of mitigation, with PPE, with identifications of symptoms, with testing, etc."
Sills has said that the goal of the NFL's COVID-19 approach is to mitigate, but not eliminate, the risk of infection -- and then work quickly to isolate infected people to prevent an outbreak. Moving to a bubble, he suggested, could cause more distress than it prevents.