New York governor Andrew Cuomo wants to open up New York to sports but that doesn't help the Jets
New York governor Andrew Cuomo wants to open up the state for sports. For two of the three NFL teams that have the state in their names, however, the impact of the governor’s statements likely does little to help move the needle.
Sports teams have been unable to practice and facilities in general shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has affected the NFL, where teams have been unable to host a rookie minicamp or workouts at their facility. Cuomo’s remarks this week about opening up New York for sports is a good, positive step but doesn’t do much for the teams that play near New York City.
Only the Buffalo Bills call the state of New York home as both the New York Giants and the New York Jets, though both originally based in New York City, now call northern New Jersey home. And with the Jets move from Long Island to Florham Park in 2008, the team is now headquartered and plays home games in New Jersey. Thus, Cuomo’s call to reopen sports doesn’t help the Jets.
And New Jersey governor Phil Murphy has not yet opened up the state to the extent that would allow the two NFL teams to be able to practice. The New Jersey Devils and the New York Red Bulls, both based in the state as well, are also not able to practice yet.
Earlier this week, Cuomo made it clear during one of his daily press briefings that he would like to see sports come back.
“I also have been encouraging major sports teams to plan re-openings without fans but the games can be televised. New York State can help those major sports franchises to do just that…hockey, basketball, baseball, football, whoever, can re-open. We’re a ready, willing and able partner,” Cuomo said.
“Personal disclosure, I want to watch the Buffalo Bills but I’m still objective, I’m acting as governor. There’s no personal agenda here. Yes, I want to watch the Bills but that’s not subverting my role as governor. I think this is in the best interest of all the people and in the best interest of the state of New York.”
It raises an interesting idea that if New Jersey were to lag behind the rest of the country for some reason in opening up, then a temporary move to New York could be a possibility.
In this scenario, the Jets could potentially go upstate and utilize a college campus for their games. Having been based in the not too distant past in the upstate town of Cortland for training camp, a remote destination far from the pandemics epicenters could be enticing for the Jets. This would allow them a base of operation outside of New Jersey (which, it should be noted, has seen a decline in new coronavirus cases in recent weeks) and one that would be well out of the way of the tri-state area’s hotspots for the pandemic.
It is also a facility that the Jets would be familiar with due to their recent training camps there under former head coach Rex Ryan.
Utilizing Hofstra on Long Island, the Jets old practice facility makes some sense in terms of logistics but likely wouldn’t work in this scenario due to the close location of New York City. Statistically, the New York City was the hardest hit in the country by the coronavirus.
