Sports on hold
Pro sports leagues are desperate to resume play this summer, but will it be safe to do so?
Will games be held this year?
It’s still unknown. Cooped-up fans craving the escape of sports have suffered a month of postponements: the NBA and NHL playoffs, baseball’s opening day, the Masters golf tournament, college basketball’s “March Madness,” even the Olympics in Tokyo. As fans clamor for distraction and revenue losses mount, team owners and league officials in all the major sports are talking about playing games this summer in empty stadiums. President Trump has urged the leagues to restart games soon, and even said he wants fans packing stadiums by August. “We have to get our sports back,” he said several weeks ago. “I’m tired of watching baseball games that are 14 years old.” But the leagues and infectious-disease experts have ruled out large crowds, which would surely spread the coronavirus. A recent poll found that 72 percent of Americans will not attend games before there’s a Covid-19 vaccine, which is likely at least a year away. Because the virus could be easily spread among players too, some owners doubt sports will return before 2021.
How much money has been lost?
ers to work out—explored creating one in Las Vegas, where hardwood courts could be built in hotels’ massive conference rooms. The NFL is still hoping to kick off its season in September, but it, too, has considered playing games in empty venues. The NHL is working on a plan to hold its playoffs this summer in several teams’ vacant arenas. Letting fans attend games is probably off the table. Using projected infection rates, statisticians at Sports Betting Dime estimate that if Chicago’s Wrigley Field drew its average attendance on June 1, asymptomatic carriers would infect 818 fans.
What are the drawbacks to playing?