The NFL released their 2020 schedule earlier this month and have plans to play a full 16-game schedule, at least for now. How that will look, even if they can play all 16 games, is still a big question mark.

Will the virus be contained by September when the season kicks off? Will it spike back up as the weather cools in the fall? Will possible treatment breakthroughs be found and widely available to use? No one can say for sure, so the NFL has contingency plans for all scenarios, including playing the season with none, or a limited number of fans in the stands.

Photo by: Getty Images

And how exactly will that affect revenue for the league and for each team individually?

Forbes Magazine staff write Mike Ozanian recently released an article detailing how much revenue the league and each team could lose if fans aren’t allowed in the stadiums to watch games.

And it isn’t a pretty picture.

Forbes is predicting the league itself could lose upwards of $5.5 billion in 2020. And the Buccaneers who in 2018 generated $119 million in stadium revenue would stand to lose millions as well. The $119 million figure accounted for nearly 30 percent of their total revenue (based on 2018 figures). And stadium revenue was expected to rise dramatically with the addition of quarterback Tom Brady as ticket sales and merchandise sales have skyrocketed since March.

Complicating things even more is the new CBA agreement recently signed by the players that bases salary numbers to revenue.

The only thing certain at this point is uncertainty. But it appears the 2020 season will look very different than any of the previous 100 seasons the league has played.