You may have noticed something unusual about NFL games this season. While players, officials, coaches and other personnel are down on the sidelines and out on the field, under league orders to wear masks when not on the field. Several of the league’s teams and head coaches have faced stiff fines for violating the mask policy, and the league has even taken draft picks away from teams that continue to break rules regarding social distancing. The Denver Broncos had to play a game last week with a wide receiver from their practice squad at quarterback, because all of their quarterbacks were ruled out after one tested positive…and the others had been with him in a meeting without masks. When it comes to cheerleaders, though, the league determined back before the season started that cheerleaders and mascots would not be permitted to do their work on the field this season.
While cheerleaders don’t influence NFL betting all that much, what are they doing this season?
NFL News: What Happened to All the Cheerleaders during COVID-19?
Just because cheerleaders cannot perform on the field during games, though, does not mean that they have disappeared. The Denver Broncos’ cheerleaders, for example, have gotten creative with their act. They have come onto the field at Empower Field at Mile High when no one else was present and recorded performances. Then, during games, they dance with the performance, but they are up in the south stands, in front of the cardboard cutouts of “fans.”
In an interview with KDVR, cheerleader Taylor Strickland says, “Our game day experience has changed a lot, but what it has really meant to us is we’ve been able to do a lot of community events.” In addition, the cheerleaders also perform pregame shows on Facebook Live at Mini Mile High, a smaller area outside the Broncos’ home stadium. They perform with the team’s band, and the team’s mascot, Thunder, is also there. The team has used these performances to help get the crowd outside the stadium pumped so that the fans watching at home get a sense of crowd energy, which is harder to come by during the pandemic.
Other personnel who are normally down on the field but will not be permitted during the pandemic are sideline reporters and pre-game broadcast panelists. You may have noticed that, in previous seasons, particularly for nationally broadcast games, there would be a table where panelists would sit and discuss the game before the start. Also, sideline reporters would break in during game broadcasts to provide in-game interviews with coaches (generally before and after halftime) and to provide updates on injuries. Under the present restrictions, reporters are still allowed to interview coaches and players after games, but the reporters stand on the bottom row of the stands and talk to the coaches or players, who are well away from the reporters and standing in front of their own microphones. So, it seems that network personnel are allowed onto the field to set up equipment, but reporters are not. In years past, there has been a reporter who has sat in a chair that moves up and down the sideline to provide a closer perspective on the games, but that is not part of broadcasts this year either.
Initially, the COVID-19 protocols had included language that proscribed jersey swaps after games. The language came out, but the exchanges are still not allowed. This might seem counterintuitive, as football is a sport that involves a considerable amount of contact, as well as breathing in and out at an elevated level.
For now, though, the cheerleaders and mascots remain off the field. With vaccines apparently set to arrive over the course of the next few months, the hope is that conditions will return to normal for the 2021 season. For now, the games go on, which is good news for sports bettors, fans, and team owners.
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