Training camp (NFL)

With NFL training camps beginning in late July, severe weather can affect practice and exhibition games.

Fans are often able to visit their favorite team's training camp to catch an early look at the players; admission to practices is often free or substantially less expensive than a game ticket, making training camp trips a popular option for fans who cannot attend many games due to financial or other reasons.

[6] Most teams have abandoned remote locations, like the Cheese League in Minnesota and Wisconsin,[7] to "come home" for training camp, largely for practicality reasons.

Furthermore, restrictions dictated by the CBA (with the NFLPA) limit contact and prohibit such things as two-a-days, which effectively reduce on-field activity during camp.

The focus of training camp is no longer getting players back in shape, but more of fostering camaraderie, filling a (usually) small number of vacant roster spots, and delving immediately into game preparation.

For example, the Lions' camp was long held at Saginaw Valley State College, the Broncos trained at the University of Northern Colorado, the Patriots at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island, and Washington moved in from Dickinson College, the former site of Carlisle Indian School.

Similarly, after many years on the road, the Jets (SUNY Cortland) and the Giants (Albany) both recently moved back to team headquarters.

For instance, the Buffalo Bills moved their training camp from SUNY Fredonia to Saint John Fisher College in suburban Rochester; as a team representing one of the smallest cities in the NFL, the holding of training camp in the nearby city of Rochester allows the Bills to lay claim to a larger portion of upstate New York, thus taking advantage of a market closer in size to other teams in the NFL (similar rationale was used for the Bills' games in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, prior to 2014).

The Dallas Cowboys have historically hosted their training camp in locales very distant from their home market, even before they were given the moniker "America's Team" in the late 1970s.

The Cowboys have held their training camp at the River Ridge Playing Fields in Oxnard, California, located in Ventura County, off and on since 2004.