NFL offers financial incentive for players to get vaccinated
CNBC's Shep Smith reports on the NFL's announcement that Covid outbreaks among vaccinated players could lead to forfeited games and lost pay. For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO: https://cnb.cx/2NGeIvi The National Football League plans to operate as normal as possible for the upcoming 2021 season and told teams they would forfeit games and lose money if Covid outbreaks occur due to unvaccinated players. In a memo obtained by CNBC, the NFL informed team executives and head coaches that it doesn’t plan to reschedule games as it did during the 2020 season due to outbreaks. Instead, the league wrote, “postponements will only occur if required by government authorities, medical experts, or at the [NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s] discretion.” The NFL notes most of its teams have vaccinated 100 percent of their top staff and set up protocols for staff who aren’t vaccinated. In addition, the league said more than 75 percent of “players are in the process of being vaccinated, and more than half the clubs have vaccination rates greater than 80 percent of their players.” If games are moved or canceled due to unvaccinated individuals, teams and players could also face financial penalties. For players, guaranteed money in contracts can become unguaranteed, and they could be fined under conduct detrimental language. The NFL players union warned its constituency of the league’s stance on postponing games, urging unvaccinated players to seek vaccination and avoid contract issues via conduct detrimental. The NFLPA sent out a memo of its own on Thursday, reminding players “if games were missed because of a COVID-19 outbreak, nobody would have gotten paid.” The memo ends with the NFLPA requesting players reach out with questions. On the team front, “the club experiencing the outbreak will be responsible for all additional expenses incurred by the opposing team and will also be required to pay any shortfall between actual and expected payment to the VTS (visiting team’s share) pool.” In addition, clubs that suffer forfeits will have losses attached to their record, threatening postseason chances. » Subscribe to CNBC TV: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCtelevision » Subscribe to CNBC: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC » Subscribe to CNBC Classic: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCclassic Turn to CNBC TV for the latest stock market news and analysis. From market futures to live price updates CNBC is the leader in business news worldwide. The News with Shepard Smith is CNBC’s daily news podcast providing deep, non-partisan coverage and perspective on the day’s most important stories. Available to listen by 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT daily beginning September 30: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/29/the-n... Connect with CNBC News Online Get the latest news: http://www.cnbc.com/ Follow CNBC on LinkedIn: https://cnb.cx/LinkedInCNBC Follow CNBC News on Facebook: Follow CNBC News on Twitter: https://cnb.cx/FollowCNBC Follow CNBC News on Instagram: https://cnb.cx/InstagramCNBC https://www.cnbc.com/select/best-cred... #CNBC #CNBCTV
