The new coronavirus has changed everybody’s routine. All major events have been postponed, all meetings have gone through rain checks, and we hadn’t seen a sporting event in over a month untilUFC came back. And now thatsome European top-flight soccer leagues are finally resuming their activities, people around the U.S are starting to wonder whenwould they see their favorite athletes take the field again.
Well, that’s a complicated matter, to say the least, as there are dozens of things to take into account, especially for baseball. Major League Baseball and commissionerRobert Manfred have been very active making and listening to proposals to start the season. However, it doesn’t feel as they’re actually close to reaching an agreement with thePlayer’s Union or local authorities.
MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred (Getty)
Thus, baseball is facing a major crossroads right now. For starters, fans being in ballparks is already out of the question, as the league will continue to enforce social distancing policies to prevent the spread of the virus. Also,shortening the seasonto an 82-game campaign as expectedwould result in an average lossof $640,000 per game, according to The Associated Press.
That means that this proposal – which is by far the safest – would result in a loss of over $4 billion for MLB, let alone what all teams will have to endure without fans in attendance. In other words, the New York Yankees could lose around $312 million, while the Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Mets would lose $232 million, and $214 million, respectively, and that’s not even the bigger problem.
Team owners will continue to negotiate salary reductions with players, whose paychecks would already be significantly thinner this year because of the new schedule. That means players would have a lesser financial incentive while also putting their health at risk just to salvage a season that would always have an asterisk next to it. The league is targeting July 4th for Opening Day, but authorities are still considering different options.
