The MLB’s Rob Manfred, in charge since 2015, has largely gone about trying to speed up the game to make it more fan-friendly, which has been received with mixed results.

And then there is Roger Goodell, the NFL’s head honcho since 2006. Goodell in many ways typifies the politics of the NFL, a league built on blue-collar, red state fan-bases for the most part. One deeply entrenched within traditional American values, and one sometimes openly at odds with progressive ideals.

Which is why I will be actively keeping an eye on what the NFL is going to do when its season is scheduled to kick off on September 10. Goodell oversees a massive empire, the biggest league on the planet in terms of finances. The NFL generated more than US$16 billion in revenue in 2018. It features 32 franchises spread out across the US, each with its own gravitational pull. Forbes estimates the average value of each franchise is around US$2.86 billion, which is more than the NBA, MLB and the English Premier League.

The 2020 NFL Draft, held remotely due to coronavirus restrictions in the US, showcased the opulence of a league known as a moneymaking machine. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who helms the richest franchise, used video conferencing for his portion of the draft, logging in from international waters aboard his US$250 million mega yacht, the Bravo Eugenia.

Roger Goodell says NFL is preparing to ‘play as planned’

Multiple US states are dealing with resistance against Covid-19 restrictions on citizens’ day-to-day lives. Many people believe they are an encroachment on their civil liberties, in a nation founded on freedom and one that promotes the ideals of the First Amendment of the US Constitution. This is especially prevalent in Republican-led states like South Carolina, Georgia, Texas and Florida. These are also football mad areas of the American heartland where high school and college football are massive draws.

While Silver has taken the NBA’s ideals into the realm of progressive ideology, regularly backing his players when it comes to freedom of speech and individual rights and freedoms, the NFL has gone in a much different, complicated and at times contradictory direction. Two instances juxtapose the two leagues’ very different stances when it comes to collective morals, ethics and ideologies.

In 2014, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, then both playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, along with a number of other players, wore T-shirts reading “I can’t breathe” during the warm-up for a regular season game. The shirts were in reference to Eric Garner, a black man who died in July after a New York police officer put him in a headlock and took him to the ground after he was questioned by police for selling cigarettes illegally.

The NBA was quick to respond to the political statement made by its players about racial profiling and police brutality, declaring it would not fine anyone. However, Silver took his usual diplomatic tone in stating he hoped players would adhere to on-court attire rules.

Then you have Colin Kaepernick and the NFL. Say what you want about the enigmatic former quarterback, his stance (or lack thereof) during a pre-season game in 2016 sparked an international dialogue on free speech. Kneeling during “The Star-Spangled Banner” was a slap in the face and incredibly anti-American to many NFL fans. Kaepernick became public enemy number one in many red states, and a hero to others.

American political fault lines are often subtle, and at times cavernous. Was Kaepernick exercising his First Amendment rights as a citizen of the United States of America, or was he being unpatriotic by protesting during the national anthem? The NFL tried to straddle the divide. A new policy said players could stay in the locker room during the anthem. But if they took to the field, they had to “stand and show respect for the flag and anthem”. The policy lasted two months before it was put on ice, and remains a lightning rod of discourse across the nation.

Chinese-American NFL star condemns ‘Chinese virus’ rhetoric

Goodell recently said he will go without a salary in the hope of trying to reduce costs, but in a recent interview he also said the NFL is going to “play as planned” this season.

Generally accepted Covid-19 norms and restrictions are likely to be tested more in NFL cities like Dallas, Houston, Charlotte and Jacksonville, than say Seattle, San Francisco or Los Angeles.

Nobody knows where the world will be when it comes to the coronavirus in September, but one thing is for certain, the NFL and its billion-dollar empires are already bleeding financially. When it comes to pitting revenue against public safety, dollars and cents may prevail over social distancing because when you break it down, in America, the only colour that really matters is green.