NFL officials have fined the Tennessee Titans over an outbreak of COVID-19 affecting dozens of players and support staff that league officials believe was a result of team members not following the league’s anti-coronavirus protocols.
The team was fined $350,000 for failures of team members to wear masks at all times as well as incidences of players meeting or exercising in team facilities after hours.
“The Titans were fined $350,000 for failure to fully implement elements of the NFL-NFLPA COVID-19 protocols that led to the shutting down of the club’s facility and rescheduling of its games against the [Buffalo] Bills and the [Pittsburgh] Steelers,” an NFL spokesperson told The Hill in an emailed statement.
“The team was fully cooperative in the review and also helped identify ways to improve the protocols,” they added.
The outbreak, which has affected 13 players and 11 others, is the NFL’s first major outbreak of COVID-19 since the season resumed this year.
Other teams including the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos have also faced fines for violations of the league’s extensive COVID-19 protocols, though those violations did not result in incidences of outbreaks of the virus occurring among the teams.