LA Rams News: California Gov. Newsom allows no-fans sports to resume

In LA Rams News: CA Governor Newsom allows sports games to resume in the state without fans beginning in June 2020

The LA Rams team, along with the entire NFL, is slowly but surely creeping towards normalization of an NFL season. Each inch towards that eventual goal is significant because the pace so far has been a dead halt. And so, the news from California Governor Newsom was welcome news indeed, even in the small measure of progress it signified.

The news is that sports may resume in the state, but only in the stipulation that games are performed in empty stadiums. This new option will begin in June 2020 and will be reserved for sustained progress in regards to new coronavirus cases in the State of California.

Of course, playing games in empty stadiums is only a partial answer for the NFL. Getting games played in empty stadiums will turn on the funding source from television broadcast rights, but NFL teams are projected to lose as much as $5.5 billion in lost revenue if stadiums remain empty. That will have a tremendous impact on the NFL salary cap next year, as Adam Schefter explains.

So while 2020 NFL games may resume in empty stadiums, the fact remains that nobody can even guess at what that 2021 NFL Salary cap may be. Right now, the Rams projected 2021 Salary Cap space is estimated between $43 Million by OverTheCap.com and $50 million by Sportrac.com.

If the NFL loses significant revenue in 2020, that will translate into a steep drop for the salary cap for NFL teams next year.  If Spotrac.com’s numbers are correct, the Rams are in the middle of salary cap space next season with $50 million. So it seems that the Rams were wise not to push dollars into next season.

Of course, everything is complete speculation at this point. But we do know that while the Rams may have a bit of space to absorb a reduction of pending free agents, they face another round of incredibly talented players with expired contracts. Their only consolation this time? They won’t be the only NFL team doing so.