PGA, NASCAR and XFL Latest Sports To Cancel Operations

While the UFC plans to go forward with its fights on Saturday night, it is seemingly the only one to do. The United States is currently at a standstill, awaiting word on when the majority of its sports leagues will begin to resume play.
Between Thursday and Friday, the PGA Tour, NASCAR, and the XFL all announced they would suspend operations in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. These leagues are just the latest to shut down operations for the time being, given how the virus has really taken a toll on our society.
The thought for the PGA Tour was that The Masters would take place. However, with numerous people traveling to Augusta, Ga., the PGA Tour made the right call in keeping this large group of people away from one another.
Golf is one of the best sports to play during this coronavirus outbreak, given that its players would not be breathing on one another. However, the travel aspect is still something that is making the masses worry.
“Unfortunately, the ever-increasing risks associated with the widespread coronavirus have led us to a decision that undoubtedly will be disappointing to many, although I am confident is appropriate under these unique circumstances,” said Masters chairman Fred Ridley.
Off The Road
NASCAR is another one of the sports suspending operations in the wake of the coronavirus. The thought was that they would be able to run their races as scheduled in front of no fans. However, they decided that taking precautions was the best way to go about things.
“NASCAR has decided to postpone the race events at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend and Homestead-Miami Speedway next weekend,” as said in a statement from NASCAR.
“We believe this decision is in the best interest of the safety and well-being of our fans, competitors, officials and everyone associated with our sports. We will continue to monitor this dynamic situation as we assess future race events.”
Despite no event taking place, there are still NASCAR fans parked at the Atlanta Motor Speedway soaking in the good times. Although, if you talked to most experts on health, they would probably like those fans to disperse as quickly as possible.
Rough First Year
Perhaps the most trying of the cancelations would be that of the XFL. In the first year of the reboot, the league was humming along just fine with solid TV deals and a strong fanbase in place.
It truly is the saddest of times, considering all of the players and coaches who had been making extreme sacrifices to live out their dreams.
“Currently, the XFL will not be playing its regular-season games,” as said in a statement by the league. “However, all players will be paid their base pay and benefits for the 2020 regular season. All XFL ticket holders will be issued refunds or credit toward future games. The XFL is committed to playing a full season in 2021 and future years.”
Many people the XFL will not survive this, but those people have clearly not tuned in to one game over the course of the season.
We’re at a very turbulent time in our lives right now. With no sports to watch and converse over, the people are experiencing something that we never thought was possible.
The best thing to do at this point is to cherish the time we have off and come back even stronger as fans when the games return to play.