The NFL announced Wednesday that they are canceling the 2021 Pro Bowl event in Las Vegas, Nevada due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The event was scheduled to take place on Jan. 31, one week before the Super Bowl, as per NFL tradition. The league also announced that Las Vegas will get to host the 2022 Pro Bowl at the brand new Allegiant Stadium.
The cancelation of the 2021 Pro Bowl was widely expected for quite some time. The league has had to make a plethora of changes to its 2020 season schedule due to the pandemic, and this had to include the canceling of an annual tradition.
Each of the last four Pro Bowls were played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. Before that, the game was usually played at Aloha Stadium in Halawa, Hawaii.
The 2015 Pro Bowl was played at the University of Phoenix Stadium (now State Farm Stadium) in Glendale, Arizona. Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida, hosted the 2010 Pro Bowl event.
With the 2021 Pro Bowl canceled, the league also announced they'll "work closely with the NFLPA and other partners, to create a variety of engaging activities to replace the Pro Bowl game this season."
Allegiant Stadium is home to the Las Vegas Raiders, who relocated from Oakland this season. Before the start of the regular season, owner Mark Davis announced that there wouldn't be any fans in attendance for 2020.
So far, 15 of the 32 NFL teams have held a limited number of fans at their 2020 home games. The Dallas Cowboys - who opened up AT&T Stadium to approximately a 25 percent capacity - have averaged 23,958 fans per contest through their first three home games.
It's still a wait-and-see thing for many other teams, who hope to eventually have fans in 2020. The Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers are among the clubs who recently received approval to have some fans for their 2020 home games.
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