The moment when people stated taking the looming coronavirus crisis seriously was the evening of March 11, 2020. That was when the National Basketball Association suspended its regular season, in response to a cancellation of the Utah Jazz-Oklahoma City Thunder game because a Jazz player tested positive for COVID-19.
Since then, the virus has caused the sports world to either cancel or postpone its regular seasons and events. The mix of big crowds and closeness of athletes without the benefit of social distancing must have been too much for the organizers to contemplate when thousands around the world are infected and/or dying in overwhelmed hospitals. The longer this pandemic goes on, the more likely it is that the list will expand. Here's what we have as of April 5:
CANCELED: NCAA winter championships and spring sports, Wimbledon, NASCAR, National Spelling Bee, Formula 1 auto racing, world hockey championships, World Figure Skating Championship, World Cup skiing.
POSTPONED: Summer Olympics (to 2021), Kentucky Derby (to Labor Day weekend), Indianapolis 500 (late August), golf's Masters, PGA Championship and U.S. Open (TBA), tennis' French Open (late September).
UP IN THE AIR: NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball, college and NFL football, Major League Soccer, WNBA, Canadian Football League, tennis' U.S. Open.
The sports organizations,TV networks and the sponsors that support them are taking major hits to their bottom line, like most everybody else. The longer this thing goes on, the more likely they'll have harder decisions to make to keep players and fans safe.
The likes of ESPN can survive on a diet of classic games and documentaries, but for how long can they last without live sports? Sports talk radio, unless they're flagship stations for pro and college teams, will have a hard time staying afloat without having to change formats or go bankrupt. Already, major radio companies like iHeart, Entercom and Cumulus are laying off staff.
Whatever happens, we should pause and contemplate the meaning of sports during this unexpected pause in the action. The doctors, nurses, emergency responders, and critical store employees are playing roles that are more critical than who has the last shot to win the game. So do we, in staying home, washing our hands and avoiding those who don't live in your home. When the virus passes--and it will one day--sports will become more meaningful to our lives than ever before.
UPDATE (4/12/2020): Tentative new dates for three of golf's majors have been announced. The PGA Championship will try for August (which it gave up for May originally), U.S.Open in September, and the Masters in November. The Open Championship in Great Britain will wait until 2021.
The NBA and NHL are talking about resuming their seasons at such out of the way places as Las Vegas and Grand Forks, North Dakota. Major League Baseball is considering conducting its season in Arizona. They'd all be better off waiting until next season.
Even 2021 is not a sure bet. An official with the Tokyo Summer Games sounds like he has his doubts about the event being held at all if the situation doesn't improve.
And so it goes.
