bransonglobe.com SPORTS MIAMI (AP) — Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross says he’s confident the NFL will play in 2020, with or without spectators. “I think there definitely will be a football season this year,” Ross said Tuesday during an interview on CNBC. “The real question is will there be fans in the stadiums?” The NFL has said it expects to play a full schedule beginning Sept. 10, but is preparing contingency plans in case the coronavirus pan• FOOTBALL Continued from page 9 that all of the necessary safety procedures and protocols are in place to keep our team safe and healthy,” Tigers coach Ed Orgeron said. “This is a great first step to take in order for us to get back to playing the great game of college football in the fall.” The SEC decided to resume athletic activities with the guidance of a league task force that includes public health, infectious disease and sports medicine professionals from each of the league’s 14 member schools. The task force prepared a series of best practices for screening, testing, monitoring, tracing, social distancing and maintaining clean environments to serve as a guide for each school. Recommendations included testing of symptomatic team members (including athletes, coaches and staffers) as well as screening athletes before they arrive on campus within 72 hours of entering athletic facilities and on a daily basis once they resume athletic activities. Other recommendations include immediate isolation of team members who are diagnosed with COVID-19 or are under investigation, followed by contact tracing under Centers for Disease Control and local public health guidelines. “Health and safety have been our top priority as we’ve gone about this planning process, and we’ll continue to follow guidance from demic makes venue changes or games without fans necessary. “Right now, today, we’re planning on having some fans in the stadiums,” Ross said. “But I think the NFL is very flexible so that we will be able to start on time and bring that entertainment that is really so needed to all of us in this country.” The league has kept to its offseason schedule of conducting free agency, the draft and the release of the schedule. Some teams medical experts and health officials as we navigate the coming weeks,” Tennessee athletic director Phillip Fulmer said. “Our staff and student-athletes should be prepared for a ‘new normal,’ as we’ll be implementing changes to how everyone accesses and uses our facilities.” SEC officials said the task force’s recommendations could provide a guide to league members, Sankey noted that each school would get to make its own decisions regarding plans for how to make sure student-athletes return safely. For example, even though the task force’s recommendations only mentioned testing symptomatic team members, Georgia senior associate athletic director for sports medicine Ron Courson said in a statement that the Bulldogs “will conduct COVID testing and perform medical evaluations on all student-athletes.” Florida announced that it also would be testing all of its athletes. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday he thinks college football will return on schedule with at least some spectators. Abbott has already issued new rules to allow youth sports leagues to resume in June and for some professional leagues to hold events without spectators. “Once we get to college football season, our goal right now is to have college football season start as planned, with fans in stands,” Abbott said in an interview with Austin television station KXAN. “What we don’t know is what the capacity level would be.” reopened training complexes on a limited basis last week. Earlier this month, the Dolphins said their stadium committed to becoming the first to receive accreditation from a cleaning industry association for infectious disease prevention efforts. CEO May 27-28, 2020 • 11 Dolphins owner: There definitely will be an NFL season Tom Garfinkel said the team is considering social distancing proposals for games, and perhaps limiting crowds to 15,000. Dinner & Show for “TWO!” Get your tickets early as we are responsibly following the social distancing guidelines; as such seating is limited. *Plus tax & service fee. Exp. 6/30/20 * Let Us Entertain You! See the World’s Most Entertaining... Live Music Show performed by the World’s Largest Performing Family! BORN to... ENTERTAIN! Voted “Live MUSIC SHOW of the YEAR!”- Brammy Awards HUGHES BROTHERS THEATRE 3425 WEST 76 COUNTRY BLVD, BRANSON HughesMusicShow.com 800-422-0076
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