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NFL reiterates plans to hold April draft

Despite the spread of COVID-19, the NFL reiterated its plans to hold its draft in April. Yahoo! Finance's Dan Roberts joins The Final Round to discuss the latest, and how the sports industry continues to be impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.

Video Transcript

MYLES UDLAND: And, Melody, speaking of things that are maybe from the pre-corona period that are still in the air, let's switch gears a little bit talk and talk to Dan about the NFL. And Dan, you and I talked about this actually offline last night, and now we see kind of a story centered around prominent NFL reporter Adam Schefter's revulsion, in some way, to the fact that the draft is still going forward.

And I think it, again, kind of brings to the fore, in a way, maybe to peg this notion of where does sports fit into all this. Because I think it gets lost on a day to day basis. But I was thinking about this earlier, talking to some people. It feels like the sporting world is probably a lot further away from returning than some quote-unquote normal things, like going out to bars and restaurants are to us, kind of trying to see what the normal life might look like.

DAN ROBERTS: I agree completely with you that the sports world is going to take longer to return than everyone initially thought and I think longer than a lot of people still think and hope. Because look, if we're staying at home through at least the end of April, and it's likely to be longer, then we start to see the narrative shift to the point where even when the coast is clear, so to speak, and people can return to their offices, or return to bars and restaurants, we're still going to have to be careful. It can't be that we snap our fingers and everything is normal, because it isn't as though the virus is suddenly going to be killed, and it's all over, and it's all safe.

So as a result, I think a lot of sports won't be able to resume, even once the coast is clear for other businesses. And so the NFL has been the example of the sport where-- when the NBA first suspended its season, and we saw a rapid domino effect, and the NHL and MLS paused their seasons, because their seasons were currently underway, the next in line was major league baseball, which hadn't started yet, but MLB said, OK, we're going to delay the start of the season.

And now, the goalposts are moving to where it's baseball really going to happen? But all along NFL was seen as, well, NFL is the most safe, because its season doesn't start until September. But now even the NFL, the timeline makes the NFL questionable. And yet, the NFL-- surprise, surprise, as is always the case-- right now, stands alone. And is behaving differently from all the other leagues. It is planning to go ahead with its draft in Las Vegas as planned. Now there are some changes. All the live events and parties related to the draft will be off. You won't see fans standing there applauding players.

But the NFL, as of now, is planning to hold the draft and planning to televise it. And Roger Goodell has defended it by saying it's something that people need right now and they're going to enjoy it. Now Adam Schefter is certainly not the first and only sports reporter to come out and question this thinking. But the reason he's such a litmus test is because, for our Yahoo Finance viewers who may not know him, he's the scoop guy at ESPN for the NFL. He's the [INAUDIBLE] of the NFL. And he is kind of business as usual, and issuing scoops about drafts, and draft picks, and likely moves.

And now even he, yesterday, saying in a hit on ESPN, that the NFL is moving forward with this, even though there's carnage in the street. Which maybe sounds like hyperbole, but to see him finally suggests that he is critical of the league for acting, let's say, tone deaf right now, that is a real turning point. So you have to wonder whether the NFL will change its plan.

Many have suggested, OK, hold the draft, but one way to kill two birds and have it be a little safer, and maybe entertain people more, is drag it out. Maybe you only do 10 picks a day. Maybe you do one round a week, something to make the spectacle last longer, and then also have fewer people there per day. As of now, the NFL hasn't changed its plan. And now you're starting to see a rush of criticism of that plan. But it's still a ways away, so you have to see how quickly things move and how much longer we're quarantined.

MYLES UDLAND: Yeah, it starts three weeks from tomorrow. So we'll keep our eye out for. Dan Roberts, thanks for that.

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