Coronavirus finally has had an impact on the NFL.
The NFL has postponed its annual Consumer Products Summit, according to the Sports Business Journal. The annual event was scheduled for Monday to Wednesday in Tampa.
The league is exploring options to reschedule the event.
The annual vendor trade show allows more than 150 exhibitors to showcase their officially licensed products to retailers and manufacturers. Wal-Mart and Fanatics are among the online sites and stores that attend the show.
It’s also a chance for athletic gear companies to pitch their products — uniforms, practice equipment, protective gear and staff apparel — to equipment managers from all 32 teams.
More than 800 licensees, retailers, NFL league and team officials were scheduled to attend, according to the Sports Business Journal.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told PFT that the event was postponed “due to the increasing number of attendees (retailers, licensees and distributors) that will no longer attend because of their organizations’ travel restrictions.”
There is no impact on merchandise sales for fans or on other NFL events, McCarthy added.
The NFL’s next big event is the annual owners meetings, scheduled to begin March 29 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The next big public event for the league is the draft, scheduled to being April 23 in Las Vegas.