U.S. President Donald Trump believes NFL season should start on time

The President of the United States seems to have put a potential timeline on the return of professional sports in his country — according to a report from ESPN.

In Donald Trump’s mind, fans could be returning to arenas and stadiums in August or September. He also believes the NFL season (and therefore presumably the NCAA college football season) should start on time.

Donald Trump also told commissioners that he hopes to have fans back in stadiums and arenas by August and September, sources said, though it is currently unclear if medical experts find that to be a realistic timeline amid the current coronavirus pandemic. https://t.co/EFqDryGlTQ

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— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 4, 2020

Trump held a conference call with league officials across American professional sports on Saturday.

Scheduled participants on call with Trump:

NBA – Adam Silver
WNBA – Cathy Engelbert
MLB – Rob Manfred
NFL – Roger Goodell
NHL – Gary Bettman
PGA Tour – Jay Monahan
UFC – Dana White
WWE – Vince McMahon
NASCAR – John Middlebrook or Jim France.
MLS – Don Garber.

Notice: No NCAA. https://t.co/ZqKhN6sdGO

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 4, 2020

As NFL insider Adam Schefter noted, we don’t know at this point if this timeline is believed by medical experts. Trump has been known to present opinions that go against the advice of the medical community (like suggesting the American economy could be up and running again by Easter), so this should be taken with a grain of salt.

Perhaps the timeline was presented on Fox News recently and Trump ran with it.

It’s also important to note that it’s impossible to project just when we may reach a point where sports can resume even without fans in the stands. Beware fake news.

California governor Gavin Newsom said he does not anticipate sports leagues starting by September, with full stadiums, as President Trump suggested on a conference call with sports commissioners this morning.

— Ryan Kartje (@RyanKartje) April 4, 2020

The American timeline is important to the CFL. If the spread of the coronavirus doesn’t improve down south any time soon, it could prove difficult to get players who live in the United States up to Canada for the season, whatever it may look like.

It’s still too early to say what might happen to the start of the CFL season, but it’s looking likely that we’ll see a delay. The league has postponed the start of training camps indefinitely and the City of Calgary has said that pro sports won’t resume there until at least July 1.

Joel Gasson

Joel Gasson is a Regina-based sports writer, broadcaster and football fanatic. He is also a beer aficionado.