#MSBLFriday411 Corona Wars...Return of the sports

In an online twitter discussion with some friends from my professional network…we agreed that everyone is over #coronamageddon, and the second biggest question out there (especially with my fellow #sportsbiz friends) is when are sports returning and what will it look like…re-runs of classic games are great and everything, but we're ready for some real action.

Luckily, that process has begun and we're starting to see leagues making decisions on their return timelines. To make things easier, and as condensed, given the amount of news out there here is an overview of the major professional sports and their announced (official and unofficial) plans:

Golf

Date Play Halted: March 12th

Date Play Scheduled to Resume: June 11th at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth

Total Days without Golf: 91

The PGA Tour stated that being one of the first major sports to come back, brings with it an entirely new level of scrutiny on how it plans to run its tournaments. Some procedures that will be required include caddies having to clean both rakes and flagsticks after touching them and no handshaking or high-fiving during or after the round. Each player, caddie and tournament official will have to complete a health questionnaire and submit to COVID testing before being allowed to participate in the event (an estimated 400 tests per-event). It has been made very clear that the tour will not take up the necessary local resources for testing. There will be strict limits to the number of people in common areas (on average 27 people in a 1,000 square-foot space). Players will also be encouraged (although not required) to travel on tour-designed or stay at designed properties, however, players will be encouraged to maintain the "Safer at Home" approach to actions while not on the course. An Interesting requirement of note is that players will not be allowed to use Uber or Lyft. The tour has announced that, in terms of fans, that they do not plan on having any fans in attendance for the first 4 tournaments, past that the resumption of fans is still to-be-determined.

“I have to get my life back to normal as possible. I'll do whatever they say, I'll follow all the rules. We can't live in fear." - PGA Professional Harold Varner III

NASCAR

Date Racing Halted: March 16th

Date Racing Scheduled to Resume: May 17th

Total Days without Racing: 62

On April 30th, NACAR announced its revised May schedule with a return for NACAR at the fan-less Darlington Raceway, which will be the first of seven races in 11 days. At this time, NASCAR has announced that the schedule (as revised) has not affected the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs format or structure; however, the situation (they stress) remains fluid. They have also worked to maintain social distancing as best as possible, including setting up multiple garage areas at the tracks and requiring haulers and race cars to maintain at least 6 feet between them before the race. Each team will consist of (at maximum) 16 people, and workspaces will be kept separate unless absolutely necessary; if a group does have to work closely, their interaction with others will be limited. NASCAR has worked with teams to develop a rulebook of provisions in case of missed races due to COVID-19 infection. What has drawn some criticism is, as of May 13th, NASCAR has stated that it won't test competitors and teams but instead have medical professionals evaluate all individuals on a timeline to allow (if a medical issue is identified) for back-up personnel to arrive.

MLS

Date games halted: March 12th

Date games scheduled to resume: June 22nd*TENTATIVE*

Total Days without Soccer: 102 days*TENTATIVE*

Details about Major League Soccer’s return to play in 2020 got a little clearer this week when, according to The Atlantic, it was proposed by the league (and distributed to players and clubs) a modified and shortened season with all teams based at the Disneyworld Resort and the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

Per the information made available, all teams would travel and begin training in Orlando on June 1st, and the following schedule would start:

• 1st Week: Players and Coaches essentially quarantined and only allowed to work out individually

• 2nd Week: Small Group Training

• 3rd Week: Full Team Training sessions

• Games would begin on June 22nd and likely run for four or five weeks

• Season Length: Approximately 2 months

While this is the first concrete plan seen, there are still many questions left unanswered that could possibly affect the final decision. The exact way the entire competition would be structured isn’t clear, especially how the league would make the matches meaningful. It also hasn’t been made clear, when under this situation, what would be done if someone tested positive for COVID-19.

The other aspect of this plan, which hasn't been factored in, is if the players even agree to the proposed plan. While all parties are motivated to return to play, sources from the players association have stated that they want some more firm assurance of what the competition will look like and the safety precautions that will be put in place. Another complication is that the players' collective bargaining agreement, which was agreed to this off-season, is (as of yet) not ratified, meaning that players could be potentially locked out in an ultimate worst-case scenario.

MLB

Date games halted: March 26th (Date of Mariners Home Opener)

Date games scheduled to resume: July 4th*TENTATIVE*

Total Days without Baseball: 100 days*TENTATIVE*

The confidence around a re-starting of Major League Baseball seemed to be one of the highest of any professional sport still working out a plan earlier this spring. Current plans call for an 82 games regular season based on geography (AL west would play NL West, etc.), which would run through October, an expanded post-season at neutral sites with the World Series ending in either later November or early December. Obviously, the need for neutral sites mostly being a need for those cold-weather teams (Yankees, Twins, Nationals, Cubs, Mets, Phillies, Indians) who play in an open-air stadium. The proposed plan also includes teams in three potential pools at locations in Florida, Texas, and Arizona to open the 2020 season, hoping to return to their home venues as the summer progresses. Teams would have a one-month spring training starting in June, a universal DH in BOTH leagues, and a 30-man roster to account for potential illness.

Unfortunately, things have seemed to have turned a negative direction when owners recently proposed a 50-50 revenue share plan for the entire season with players instead of paying pro-rated salaries. This move was motivated by the growing likelihood of stadiums either with severely reduced capacity and/or no fans at all. The potential upside is quite considerable with TV rights for an expanded post-season that could go as high as $1 billion; however, there is no assurance that the post-season wouldn't be canceled for COVID-19 related reasons.

Basketball

WNBA:

Date games halted: The season (which was supposed to tip-off today) was delayed in early April by the WNBA. The WNBA did conduct their draft successfully on April 17th virtually instead of in-person.

Date games scheduled to resume: TBD - No public indication on the start of the season or any proposed plans

Total Days without Basketball: 19 days (since training camp was scheduled to start)

NBA:

Date games halted: March 11th – when Utah Jazz Center Rudy Gobert tested positive before a game at Oklahoma City.

Date games scheduled to resume: TBD - Much more positive movement towards re-starting the season recently than there has been…however, no set date yet.

Total Days without Basketball: 65 days

As of a May 11th NBA Board of Governors call, there is an increasingly positive feeling about the NBA resuming its season. The call shed light on the increasing positive conversations with the NBA Players Association and a mutual desire to return as well as helping everyone get more comfortable with the idea that a single positive COVID-19 test would not shutter play.

The next steps for the NBA after that call it appears is formalizing a standard testing procedure among all 30 teams, as well as a what format a re-started season would take, including a post-season. What does appear likely is that the NBA (similar to the MLS) might adopt a "campus environment" as Silver described either in Orlando at Walt Disney World and/or Las Vegas. There is still another two-to-four weeks, according to NBA officials, before they can begin to talk specifics on dates. What has helped owners are the growing number of players returning to practice facilities, it's estimated that 22 of 30 facilities will be re-opened by Monday, May 18th.

NHL

Date games halted: March 12th

Date games scheduled to resume: July (ish)*TENTATIVE*

Total Days without Hockey: 111 days (appx.)*TENTATIVE*

The NHL and NHL Players Association have, overall, remained rather quiet about the possibility of re-starting the season. The only real rumor that has seemed to be consistent since talks about re-starting the season began in April appear are teams returning to their facilities in June with the season beginning play (in some form) in July. It is likely (similar to other sports) that NHL could return to fan-less environments, and there have even been potential discussions about centralized locations as well to monitor players and staff health similar to the other major sports. Commissioner Gary Bettman has said that he thinks the league will award the Stanley Cup this year, but potential scenarios for HOW it will be awarded are still very much unknown.

An interesting historical note that the Stanley Cup was only NOT awarded one other time in its history. After the 1918-1919 season, the cup wasn't awarded as, just before Game 6, between the Seattle Metropolitans and the Montreal Canadiens, six Canadiens (including their manager) were diagnosed with the Spanish Flu, leaving three healthy players on the team.

NFL

Date games halted: No indication of a delay in the start of the season

Date games scheduled to resume: ???

Total Days without Football: ???

The NFL has released the 2020 season schedule and, according to most sources, is still planning on a 16-game season starting on time and operating as usual. However, according to sources, the NFL is prepared to delay the start of the season if necessary with playoffs that could extend into March. Commissioner Roger Goodell has said that the league will continue to make decisions based on government regulations and the health and safety of fans, players, team personnel, and communities.

NCAA

Date games halted: March 12th

Date games scheduled to resume: August*TENTATIVE WHEN ATHLETES RETURN TO CAMPUS*

Total Days without College Sports: 64 days

The NCAA announced on March 12th it was canceling March Madness and all other winter Championships, but all spring championships as well. As time has gone on, there are increasing questions, as states are opening up at different rates, when college sports could resume in the fall. NCAA President Mark Emmert has stated that the NCAA will not be the one to decide on if/when sports can return, but in a similar approach as the Federal Government, support leagues and individual campuses as they go through that decision-making process. He did acknowledge that given the different rates at which states are re-opening, it would require the NCAA to modify their championship schedule for the upcoming year to ensure as much equity as possible for member institutions.

Perhaps the biggest news on this subject came earlier this week when the Cal State University System announced that all campuses will be "virtual" this fall with students most likely returning to campus in the winter. This inevitably caused some dominoes to fall, the most major of which was the Division II Conference, the California Collegiate Athletic Association (made up of Cal State Campuses) decision to suspend all fall athletics. This impacted not just the fall sports but also winter sports, which typically began in October. It’s important to note that this move doesn’t preclude some fall sports from picking up in winter and/or spring.

This decision also affects NCAA Division One FBS members San Jose State, Fresno State, and San Diego State University as well as the Cal State members of the non-football Big West Conference. However, at this time, no announcements have been made about the effect this decision will have on those campuses, with schools such as San Diego State still planning on playing football this fall.

Jon Wilner from the San Jose Mercury News, in an article from May 7th, did report that a hybrid model (a combination of in-person and online instruction) could be a path forward for some schools in the fall, which could ensure that fall sports do happen. The consensus in both nationally and in the Pac-12 has been that if it isn't safe for students to be back on campus, student-athletes won't be back either. However, if classrooms and campuses can be made safe in some capacity, the University of California System President Janet Napolitano has publicly discussed the possibility of deploying the hybrid-model this fall. The University of California at Berkeley is probably the trickiest of situations with the increased regulations in the San Francisco Bay area. This instruction model could perhaps present a solution to that problem. However, if Berkley doesn't re-open its highly doubtful Stanford would re-open 45 miles away…but what about UCLA? There is a possibility that football could resume even without the California schools, as it has been heavily rumored that Alabama is actively looking to replace their early season match-up with USC with another opponent.

Ultimately, while people are looking for certainty and a definite "yes" or "no," it is still way too soon to tell the possibility of college football and sports this fall. Ultimately, athletic administrators, university administrators, and conference commissioners are all working to out contingency plans for any potential eventualities. What is evident with college sports and all of the major professional leagues, the strategies put in place will ensure the safety of all involved to the highest level possible.