It's all over the news: Major League Baseball (MLB) is looking to formalize plans to bring players back to the field as soon as July. But is that just wishful thinking? Not really, according to reports.
As New York's Broadway just announced an extension of its "going dark" period, pushing the re-opening of shows and theaters to, at least, Labor Day, the sports world—another cherished beacon of American entertainment—is searching for ways to make a comeback, albeit with major changes in place.
Although still seeking approval by the higher ups, MLB is proposing a truncated, 82-game season (if okay-ed, it would become the shortest season since the late 1870s) that would kick off sans fans in early July.
Matches would look slightly different than what we're used to, and we're not just talking about the lack of spectators in arenas: playoff fields would be expanded, team travel would be minimized and there would be a single designated hitter for each game, which isn't typical in regular times. These would only be some of the changes in place.
Of course, given the inability to reap the financial benefits of having an audience (look beyond ticket sales: concessions and parking won't be raking in any money either, of course), the League will have to be creative when coming up with a plan to appropriately compensate the players. Proposals surrounding the fiscal aspects of the comeback are also in motion, according to the New York Times.
Although baseball seems to be ahead of the curve, likely the first sport to return to its field in some iteration following national lockdown practices, other leagues have also begun talking about concrete re-opening schedules.
As of now, the National Football League (NFL) is expected to kick the season off on September 10 while the National Hockey League has postponed its games indefinitely. No word yet on whether Major League Soccer will shift its already rescheduled June 8 kickoff while the U.S. Open is, for now, still going to happen in New York at the end of August ("Our target date for a [final] decision is [...] mid-June," reads the tournament's official site). Golf lovers can rejoice: the PGA Tour is standing by its plans to resume the season in June.
As for the ultimate showdown in the sports world, the Olympics, set to take over Tokyo this summer, have been postponed to 2021. Fingers crossed that everything will return to normal by then.
Most popular on Time Out
- Here is what Amtrak rides might look like post-pandemic
- This is when national parks will reopen lodgings this summer
- Online party games to play remotely with friends
- Live stream the Northern Lights from your couch tonight