On the heels of the NBA suspending their season due to the coronavirus, multiple sports leagues have followed suit and either suspended their season or altered their setup.
As the situation remains fluid, MLB, MLS, and NHL suspended their seasons while NASCAR will continue without fans.
MLS was the first to announce they were stopping their season. They are also the first league to give a specific timeline, suspending their league for 30 days. But as the days go on, it’s not a guarantee play will continue after 30 days.
Major League Soccer Suspends Season for 30 Days pic.twitter.com/FLUqzttwrK
— MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) March 12, 2020
The NHL, citing Rudy Gobert’s positive coronavirus test and that many NHL and NBA teams share arenas, it made sense to them to postpone the league.
The @NHL pauses 2019-20 season. https://t.co/WMePei4clH pic.twitter.com/W5Hqmk3kX7
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 12, 2020
While MLB hasn’t yet officially announced (by the time of posting), ESPN’s Jeff Passan revealed that spring training will be suspended and while it’s not yet certain, the news probably means the start of the MLB regular season will be suspended.
After a conference call among owners this afternoon, Major League Baseball is expected to suspend spring training. The league likely will delay the beginning of the regular season as well. At this point, it's a formality that ownership-level sources expect to happen.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 12, 2020
One of the few sports continuing is NASCAR. After a state of emergency was issued in Miami-Dade County, endangering the March race at Homestead, NASCAR revealed that the next two races (Atlanta and Homestead) will continue but will not involve fans.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 12, 2020
We’re probably past the point where it’s easier to name what isn’t suspended but until new cases start to level off, the trend will continue.
UPDATE #1: MLB has announced that spring training has been canceled starting today and Opening Day will be postponed a “minimum of two weeks.”
Here's the full announcement from MLB.
Spring Training is done today at 4 p.m. ET.
Opening Day delayed for minimum of 2 weeks. pic.twitter.com/LeM1TjT1OL
— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) March 12, 2020
About Phillip Bupp
Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.
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