NFLPA Sends Warning Notice of Tension Between Owners, Goodell, Players Over Coronavirus

The NFL Players Association is getting in front of a potential battle between the league's players and commissioner Roger Goodell over health and safety standards regarding the coronavirus.

Sports and Business News: 6/30

NFLPA Playing Offense Over Coronavirus Concerns 

The president of the National Football League Player's Association released a statement regarding the importance of player safety and health, as the NFL gets ready to open training camp in a few weeks and prepare for the upcoming season.

In the release, Browns center and NFLPA President J.C. Tretter attempts to address a few of the public’s misconceptions regarding player safety and the job at hand for NFL players. After reading the message, it almost comes off as a warning to the public that things between the NFLPA, the league owners, and Commissioner Roger Goodell are about to get a bit heated; as the league implements their safety guidelines over the coronavirus.

NFLPA President @JCTretter covers some of the common phrases football players have been hearing around getting back to work & highlights our mission of keeping player safety at the forefront.

His latest column: https://t.co/bPyY5o0eVa pic.twitter.com/cMVvv7XPiF

— NFLPA (@NFLPA) June 30, 2020

In the release, Tretter writes, 

“As we begin our fight for necessary COVID-19 protections, these recycled misconceptions will be used to undermine the strength of our union and the legitimacy of your career.”

Somewhat reminiscent of the closing scene from Eminem’s 8 Mile, Tretter proceeds to dispel what the public and Roger Goodell would say against the players in an effort to place them as culprits to not playing this year because of the coronavirus. 

Tretter lists some common arguments against players including the following: 

- “You should just play for the love of the game.” 

- “Just go play you’re young and healthy” 

- “Athletes are overpaid.” 

- “I had to go back to work you should have to go back, too”

Towards the end of the statement, Tretter additionally says, 

"More so than any other sport, the game of football is the perfect storm for virus transmission. There are protections, both short and long term, that must be agreed upon before we can safely return to work. The NFLPA will be diligent as we demand that the NFL provide us the safest workplace possible.”

Nevada Casinos Lose 99.4% of Revenue in May

The Nevada Gaming Control Board released the casino industry’s earning for the month of May and the results, as you can imagine during a global pandemic with all casinos essentially shut down are astonishing. 

According to the report, casino revenue dropped 99.4% in May 2020 compared to May 2019. In total casinos brought in $5.8 million in May compared to nearly a billion in May of last year. 

According to a report from CDC Gaming, most of the revenue came via internet poker and mobile sports wagering. Nevada casinos re-opened with health and safety limitations on June 4th, so the reports for this month should be a bit more positive for the casino industry.

Daily Coronavirus Update

There are 10.3 million cases of the virus worldwide, with over 507,000 deaths. The U.S. has 2.6 million cases and 126,000 deaths.

Dr. Anthony Fauci and CDC Director Robert Redfield testified in front of a Senate committee Tuesday. Fauci said that he would not, at this pace, be surprised if the U.S. reached 100,000 new cases per day if the U.S. does not get the COVID-19 pandemic under control. Currently, we’re seeing an average of 40,000 cases per day.

Jack Gruber-USA TODAY

Fauci also stressed that bars, especially indoor bars, are not good. 

Redfield warned that we need “aggressive modernization” of contact tracing procedures in the United States and that a “substantial investment” must take place in order for that to happen. He noted that if contact tracing isn’t being done in real-time, then it “doesn’t really have any value.” 

Redfield also expressed that he’s disappointed that American Airlines will resume booking their flights to capacity. He added, “I can say this is under critical review right now by us at C.D.C.” 

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and U.S. Secretary Treasury Steven Mnuchin are appearing in front of the House Financial Services Committee.

”We have entered an important new phase and have done so sooner than expected,” Powell said in prepared remarks ahead of his testimony Tuesday. 

“While this bounceback in economic activity is welcome, it also presents new challenges - notably, the need to keep the virus in check.”

Powell noted in his remarks that more than 20 million Americans have lost their jobs since the pandemic took hold in mid-March.

“The path forward for the economy is extraordinarily uncertain and will depend in large part on our success in containing the virus... A full recovery is unlikely until people are confident that it is safe to re-engage in a broad range of activities."

Mnuchin, on the other hand, was more positive in his remarks. 

Ahead of the testimony being given, Mnuchin said, 

“We are in a strong position to recover because the Trump Administration worked with Congress on a bipartisan basis to pass legislation and provide liquidity to workers and markets in record time.”

TheStreet's Katherine Ross contributed to this report.