Isaiah Shim
Sports Editor
Several teams across professional sports have slowly been opening up their practice facilities, with their government’s permission.
Since early May, teams from the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), and Major League Soccer (MLS) have returned to practice. Depending on what state the team is in though determines whether or not they can be open. So teams like the Seahawks and Sounders can have their facilities opened, but players are only allowed to train individually.
For those who can practice though, there are strict regulations. One of the NFL teams, the Indianapolis Colts released an official statement, “We’ve spent the entire quarantine period preparing to reopen… but it will be very gradual and deliberate. And of course we’re taking steps to make sure we’re in compliance with state and local regulations, and NFL and CDC guidelines.”
These guidelines include taking the temperature of any person entering the facilities as well as common social distancing for anyone using the facilities.
Although players have been granted limited access, it is being reported that not all players are not taking advantage, wanting to stay distanced.
For sports who’s seasons were set to begin, like the MLS and Major League Baseball (MLB), there have been steps attempting to be made to get their leagues back on track.
On May 11, the MLS sent out a proposal to all teams that would have the teams fly to Orlando by June 1 for practice, and play by July 1. In this proposal by the MLS, teams would play at least five games, with a tournament format to add more games.
The teams would primarily practice and play games at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports, according to the Washington Post. ESPN’s set of fields are a part of Disney’s large plot of land that they own in Florida, which includes Disney World. Seeing that ESPN is one of the MLS’ major broadcasting partners, the move would make sense.
As of writing this, no official statement has been released regarding the proposal, so whether or not MLS will resume play is unknown.
On the baseball side of things, on Monday May 12, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association began negotiations regarding resuming play in 2020. Commissioner Rob Manfred held a conference call with all 30 teams where a restart proposal was given that would have the MLB season start in July.
Other significant items in this proposal, according to CBS Sports, included:
- An 82-game regional schedule
- 30-player active roster with a 20-player practice squad
- A 14 team postseason with games being played in home cities this October
- 50/50 revenue split between players and owners
This is a big deal for the MLB as they have said that not having a season would cost the league $4 billion, and down the road, these same financial losses could happen to other leagues.
The NFL has expressed interest in returning to play in the fall without fans if they have to, a decision that could cost them $5.5 billion, according to Forbes.
Now football is a long ways away, but these decisions happening now are crucial as more and more spaces are opening up, regardless of their involvement with professional sports. On the other side, depending on the state of the world, these proposed start dates could be pushed back indefinitely, rendering these decisions pointless.
