As the entire world grapples with the novel coronavirus, one major entertainment industry in the United States is unsure of what to do. That four major sports leagues and the NCAA generate over 30 billion dollars in revenue, and much of it comes from television, streaming, and others watching from afar on their screens. Major League Baseball alone generated 10.7 billion dollars in revenue last season, second only to the NFL, which is a new record.
Considering the current state of the economy, it is safe to conclude that Major League Baseball will not be generating revenue anywhere in this realm for 2020. After all, it’s nearly May and not one baseball game that counts has been played, and in all likelihood, there will not be any games played for at least another month. Even if things were to take a drastic turn for the best, ballplayers cannot just be sent out to play meaningful games the next day. An abbreviated Spring Training would need to take place for at least a couple weeks before starting up the season. However, any hope for a baseball season in 2020 is far from dead.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, joined Jack Curry of YES Network on Monday night. During the 20 minute interview, the topic of professional sports leagues, specifically Major League Baseball, returning was brought up. Though Fauci admits he does not possess a detailed plan for bringing baseball back, he listed guidelines and examples of what the league could do to have players on the field soon. The first plan he mentioned is akin to the Arizona/Arizona-Florida plan Major League baseball has kicked around, in which ballplayers are relocated to a hub to play, tested regularly and play their ballgames in a “spectator-less” environment. There is a caveat to this plan, however.
The caveat that Fauci states is somewhat of a wildcard in which fans are actually allowed into ballparks this summer. For that to be possible, he mentions that ballparks would need to sell a limited supply of tickets in order to maintain social distancing guidelines and fans would likely be required to wear a facial covering. The idea of fans inside ballparks this summer is pie-in-the-sky, due to the difficulty of enforcing such restrictions. Empty stadiums, however, is a very real possibility, and while there will certainly be a decrease from that 10.7 billion dollar figure in 2019, revenue from television alone is better than no revenue at all.
With all that being said, of course, player and personnel safety is only one piece (albeit the most important) to the puzzle that is an MLB season during the COVID era. During an MLB Network Radio interview Monday morning, Cardinals Pitcher, Adam Wainwright expressed some skepticism about starting Major League Baseball back up, where he discusses his biggest concern, a flawed plan put forth by Major League Baseball that will lead to another suspension in the season. Though he doesn’t cite an exact reason as to why the league would shut back down, one could surmise that an infected person in the league would be the reason as to why it would.
Wainwright also brings up another concern of his, which is the same one echoed by Clayton Kershaw and Mike Trout (to an extent), being kept away from his family during the quarantine.
“The best plan from my point of view is to not take me away from my family for four months and to have me quarantined away from them, I can tell you that. You’re going to have a lot of uninterested players when they hear their families are not to be involved. I mean we’re all quarantined now, what is the difference if we’re all quarantined there or with our families there?”
Based on the soundbites and pieces we have heard from several players now, it is quite clear that professional ballplayers with families are uninterested in being separated from their wives and children for the duration of the season. This is an issue that most certainly will be atop the list of the players’ union’s concerns when negotiations for a 2020 season begin. Though Wainwright and the few players that have spoken publicly on this issue do not advocate on behalf of the MLB as a whole, their sentiment is likely shared amongst the majority of players. And if we’ve learned anything earlier this spring, it is that whatever Tony Clark and the MLBPA says goes.
Even when public health officials give the “okay” to restart the baseball season in some way, shape or form, it is apparent that MLB and the MLBPA will need to come to terms on some sort of agreement that allows immediate families to accompany their husbands and fathers in the MLB. Just how will the finalized plan look? Well, that is another topic for another article. Stay tuned.
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