California Governor Gavin Newsom Does Not Expect Fans to Be at 2020 Football Games

Gavin Newsome contradicts what President Trump reportedly told pro sports commissioners
California Governor Gavin Newsom Does Not Expect Fans to Be at 2020 Football Games
California Governor Gavin Newsom Does Not Expect Fans to Be at 2020 Football Games /

Football fans are getting anxious about the status of college football in 2020, and there is considerable disagreement between two chief politicians about whether fans will be allowed in stadiums next fall f games are played.

President Donald Trump told commisshers of major pro sports in a conference call Saturday that he expects the NFL season to begin as scheduled in September and that he hopes to have fans back in the stands by August and September, according to a report by Adam Schefter of ESPN.

However, California Governor Gavin Newsom does not expect that to be the case in California. His message Saturday seems to ensures that if college football games are played in 2020, they will be played in empty stadiums if the games are in California.

 

"I am not aticipating that happing in this state," Newsom said regarding having fans in stadium this fall, according to tweet by Lindsay Thiry, who covers the Rams for ESPN. "Let me tell you why. We've all seen the headlines the last couple days in Asia where they were opening up certain businesses, and now they're starting to roll back on those openings because they're starting to see some spread, there's a boomerang."

Ronald Brownstein, a senior editor at The Atlantic, followed with a tweet that quoted Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti saying, "I can’t imagine that public-health professionals are going to say, ‘Let’s put tens of thousands of people back together in a stadium.’”

The President reportedly hinted that tax credits might be given to fans who attend sports events once the dangerous stages of the pandemic are over.

Cal has high hopes for the 2020 season after the Bears went 8-5 in 2019. However, there remains the distinct possibility that there will be no college football season at all in 2020. A lot of scenarios are being discussed for what alterations will be made to the college football schedule if games are played.

The pandemic has already affected recruiting signficantly, as noted in the video below:


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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.