Football Pool Covid-19 Concerns

While the global pandemic over the Covid-19 coronavirus seems to be mostly behind us, it is still an active issue.  The NFL did very well last year, able to play all games.  I trust that they will do as well this year.  The National Football League is planning on a full regular season starting in the first week of September. 

The Football Pool is following the NFLs posture and assuming all games will be played as scheduled.  The basic rules will be the same as in previous years.  The rules to handle any disruptions will also be the same as last year and are repeated here for reference.  Hopefully, they will not be needed. 

The operation of the Pool is all done on-line - signups, pick entry, reporting of status and notification of winners - so no changes are needed there.  To minimize the contact needed for entry fees and winner payouts,  All entry fees should be paid in before the start of the season.  Payouts will be made after each week if possible but may be delayed until after the end of the season if circumstances dictate.  This means that weekly players must pay up front for all weeks in which they plan to participate.  As always, weekly players that have paid but do not submit picks will have their entry fee applied to a later week or refunded.  There are two exceptions to this at this time:  If a new player wishes to join as a weekly player, they may pay at the time they join.  And if there are any additional Survivor Pools, those who wish to participate that have not paid in advance may pay at that time.

It is highly likely that all games will be played as scheduled.  However, any alterations in the schedule will affect the Pool.  The following list suggests the actions the Pool will take when incidents occur:

• If a game is removed from the schedule before picks are opened up for the week, that game will be taken off the pick list.  The week will have one less game.
• If a game is removed after some picks have been submitted for the week, the entry form will not be changed.  Players will have to make a pick for the missing game as all boxes must be checked before the picks can be entered.  The game will be dropped from all entry forms when the picks are posted for the week - regardless of which team was picked or for how many points it was picked.  All lower point picks will move up to fill the gap.  If the pick was marked as a Survivor pick, it will still be removed and the picks will be treated as if no Survivor selection was made.  If the pick was the Bonus pick, the last scheduled game for the week will be the Bonus game instead.
• If all games for a week are moved to a different week, the Pool will change the schedule accordingly. 
• If all games for a week are cancelled, the Pool will drop that week and continue as a Pool with one less week.  The weekly entry fee will be credited back to each player.
• If the season is cancelled early, the weekly entry fees for the unplayed weeks will be credited to each player.
• If 9 or more weeks have been played at the time of cancellation, the season will be considered complete and season payouts will be made as of the last week played.  If 8 or fewer weeks have been played, the season Pool will be cancelled and all entry fees will be credited.
• If a Survivor Pool is active at the time the season is cancelled (regardless of the number of weeks it was active), the Pool will be considered complete and the proceeds divided equally to those surviving at the last week of play.
• If a postponed game is rescheduled for a later week and does not conflict with the schedule for that week, it will be added to the Pool schedule as a normal game.
• If a 'makeup' day is scheduled to allow playing some or all of the postponed games, that will not be part of the Pool.