Games are restarting, but few reporters will be there

Many familiar pregame sights won’t be back when baseball and the NBA return later this month. Managers won’t exchange lineup cards at home plate and basketball lineup introductions won’t feature special high fives.

There also won’t be the ritual of a gaggle of reporters crowding around a manager before the game or waiting for LeBron James or Brad Stevens to emerge for interviews.

As U.S. team sports prepare to resume, journalists are facing the same reckoning that their colleagues who cover politics and entertainment have encountered – coming up with new approaches despite reduced access.

“I consider this the most challenging year ever in terms of sports writer coverage,” said Bob Glauber, Newsday NFL writer and president of the Pro Football Writers Association.

Professional leagues closed media access to locker rooms and clubhouses in early March. Even when the games restart, that access is not going to return immediately.

The NBA is the only league that will allow reporters to ask players questions in the same room, and that will be a very limited group.

The league will allow no more than 12 media members to live full-time in the Walt Disney World bubble where all NBA players will also live and play. The reporters must quarantine for seven days after arriving. Besides covering games, the reporters will be allowed access to the postgame media room and practices. They won’t be able to see leave the resort or have visitors for as long as they stay, and the rest of the season should last about 72 days.

Reporters covering games near Orlando but not residing in the bubble can watch from the stands and will only be allowed to interview players on Zoom. The NBA’s credential advisory states no more than 12 media members will be allowed in this group, which will not attend any news conferences or practices.