Story at a glance
- Major League Soccer became the first major professional sport to resume play during the coronavirus pandemic earlier this month.
- The MLB, NBA and NFL have announced plans to follow, with varying adjustments to their seasons and play.
- As COVID-19 continues to spread across the United States, there is still no vaccine to protect players or others from getting sick.
This week, baseball will become the second major league professional sport to return during the coronavirus pandemic, followed by basketball next week. Major League Soccer (MLS) started its season earlier this month, with the subtly named, “MLS is Back” tournament.
So, is this it? Is the pandemic over? Can life go back to normal now?
Not quite. Really, nothing has changed, some experts say, since leagues shut down play in March this year. New coronavirus cases are on the rise in some parts of the country and remaining steady in others, forcing some states to pause or even reverse their planned reopenings. There is still no vaccine available to the public, although a Chinese company has reportedly approved a vaccine for limited use and several other companies are conducting large-scale trials. Social distancing is still the most effective way to protect against the further spread of COVID-19, and public health officials recommend that Americans wear face masks if and when they need to leave their homes.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CORONAVIRUS RIGHT NOW
FAUCI WARNS YOUNG PEOPLE THEY ARE NOT IMMUNE TO ADVERSE EFFECTS OF CORONAVIRUS
12 STATES SHOW RECORD SPIKES IN CORONAVIRUS CASES
HERE ARE THE 6 WAYS THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC COULD END
CORONAVIRUS MAY CONTINUE TO ‘HOPSCOTCH’ ACROSS THE US
Then why are sports leagues resuming play? MLS kicked off its season despite one team’s withdrawal after nine players tested positive for COVID-19. And at least 25 NBA players tested positive earlier this month, although the league has now reported zero positive tests on the NBA campus over the last week.
Some say the country needs sports for morale.
“Baseball really does represent an important part of the national psyche,” Seattle Mariners majority owner and chairman John Stanton said during a virtual fireside chat with Madrona Venture Group. “I believe that in my soul, and for us to get back on the field is vitally important and it is something that we are committed to do.”
Others say it’s money. An ESPN analysis in May found that the loss of sports would cost at least $12 billion in revenue and hundreds of thousands of jobs — more if football doesn’t come back this fall. MLB team owners could lose nearly $4 billion if games aren’t played, according to commissioner Rob Manfred. And while the leagues are already losing revenue from tickets and stadium sales, there is still TV revenue to be made. Each NFL regular-season game is worth nearly $24 million in revenue from TV rights, ESPN reported, with other leagues looking at similar numbers.
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Whatever the reason may be, leagues are getting creative to bring sports back. Games are being played without fans, with some stadiums pumping in ambient sound for the players. The MLS and NBA have formed a bubble of sorts inside ESPN’s Wide World of Sports at Disney, where interactions between players are restricted. But right outside, a pandemic is raging. Florida reported more than 9,000 new cases and 136 deaths on Tuesday.
Some players have chosen to sit out due to the health risk, including Colorado Rockies outfielder Ian Desmond and Washington Wizards’ Bradley Beal. And even those who are playing have concerns.
“We’re trying to bring baseball back during a pandemic that’s killed 130,000 people [in the U.S.] We’re way worse off as a country than where we were in March when we shut this thing down,” Washington Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle told reporters. “Sports are like the reward of a functional society, and we’re trying to just bring it back, even though we’ve taken none of the steps to flatten the curve, whatever you want to say.”
BREAKING NEWS ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
COUNTRIES LED BY WOMEN HAVE FARED BETTER AGAINST CORONAVIRUS. WHY?
MORE THAN 8.7 MILLION CORONAVIRUS CASES WENT UNDETECTED IN MARCH
EXPERTS: 90% OF CORONAVIRUS DEATHS COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED
FAUCI PREDICTS ANOTHER CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK IN THE FALL WITH A ‘VERY DIFFERENT’ OUTCOME
TEXAS REPORTS SINGLE-DAY HIGH IN CORONAVIRUS DEATHS TWO WEEKS AFTER REOPENING
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