Only vaccinated personnel in locker rooms on NFL game days
The NFL has mandated that only fully vaccinated personnel, with a maximum of 50 people, will have access to locker rooms while players are present on game days. In a memo sent to the 32 teams and obtained by The Associated Press, the policy becomes effective immediately. The personnel covered by the policy includes coaches, athletic trainers, equipment staffers, one general manager, one team security representative, three club communications media workers and one clubhouse support staffer.
Players are not required to be vaccinated against COVID-19,
but the NFL has reported that more than 90% of them are.
“Non-club-affiliated media will not be permitted in the locker room,” said the memo dated Wednesday. “In the event a player needs medical attention in the locker room or if a club elects to conduct drug and steroid specimen collections on game day, a medical professional or specimen collector ... may access the players’ locker room without being included in the maximum of 50 individuals with locker room access, provided that they are fully vaccinated.”
Most professional sports have not allowed locker room access during the pandemic. Major League Baseball’s 2021 season began with video conferencing similar to last year until the league adjusted its policy in June to allow vaccinated journalists on the field pregame to interview players. Most teams continue to host pre- and postgame manager availabilities via video conference, and reporters still are not allowed back into clubhouses.
Neither the NHL nor NBA has allowed locker room access, though the NBA during late rounds of the playoffs offered news conferences for limited vaccinated media. The WNBA recently started allowing in-person interviews at practice after the Olympic break, before and after games. Journalists must be vaccinated and can conduct one-on-one interviews with social distancing. But there is no locker room access.
Only in auto racing, where there are no true clubhouses did media access open wider.
https://apnews.com/article/sports-nfl-business-coronavirus-pandemic-personnel-254cb64fadb941e9797cc1514ceab819