There has been plenty of planning and strategizing on how to make a return to sports as safe as possible. There have been several barriers that professional sports commissioners will have to overcome in the coming weeks.
The pandemic for the NBA has meant trying to complete the 2019-20 season and playoffs. The only way to do so has been the “bubble” concept that they have created in Orlando, Fla.
“It will entail enormous sacrifice on behalf of those players, and for everyone involved, the coaches, the referees,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. “It’s not an ideal situation. We are trying to find a way to our own normal in the middle of a pandemic, of essentially a recession, and now with enormous social unrest in the country. We’re dealing with extraordinary circumstances.”
Now that plans are in place at the Wide World of Sports facilities at Walt Disney World, the only issues will be those that arise from positive tests.
Business As Usual
For football, fans have wondered if things will be anything close to normal by the fall. Commissioner Roger Goodell has been business as usual, but that will soon change.
“It’s been a different offseason for us, but it’s also been a chance for us to show we can adapt and do things right,” Goodell said. “We might have to do things we thought impossible a few weeks ago. It will evolve. As circumstances change, we will change our protocols appropriately.”
As players begin to get together more, testing rates will rise. The NFL and NCAA are still pondering whether it will be safe for fans to attend at all. Dr. Anthony Fauci has said that football needs a bubble concept to play at all.
Still Squabbling
Major League Baseball has turned their arguments into one of money rather than safety from the virus. The players and owners continue to trade proposals for the shortened season.
“The owners are committed to trying to find a way through this and getting the game back on the field,” said MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. “It remains their strong preference to get back on the field with agreement of the players.”
Some days it feels as if these groups will never reach an agreement. Baseball seems to be a sport that can be possible during this pandemic, so there are hopes they can still find a way to play this summer.
Every league has to think differently as they look to continue play.
“Everyone has to stratify their own risks,” said Jennifer Ashton, chief medical correspondent for ABC. “The benefits and risks of going and not going (to games). There are four factors — time, space apart, how densely crowded, and indoors/outdoors. There are absolutely more questions than answers.”
The biggest question now is the issue of positive tests during the return. What is the number of positive tests that will cause cancellation?
The NCAA is facing those same questions with student-athletes returning to campus to prepare for the upcoming season.
