Based on a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that was released on Sunday night, it appears pro sports in the U.S. will not be coming back anytime soon.
“CDC, in accordance with its guidance for large events and mass gatherings, recommends that for the next eight weeks, organizers … cancel or postpone in-person events that consist of 50 people or more throughout the United States,” it said. “Events of any size should only be continued if they can be carried out with adherence to guidelines for protecting vulnerable populations, hand hygiene, and social distancing.”
That recommendation would seem to suggest sports will be gone until at least the middle of May but, given the level of caution leagues will exercise, it will likely be longer. Reporting for ESPN, Adrian Wojnarowski said NBA owners and executives are bracing for the possibility of mid-to-late June as a “best-case scenario” for the league return returning to action.
CDC recommendation of no events of 50-plus people for next two months comes as a number of NBA owners and executives increasingly believe a best case scenario is a mid-to-late June return to play — with no fans. League's scouting for possible arena dates all the way thru August.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 15, 2020
There’s a similar report about Major League Baseball from MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. “The hoped-for April 9 MLB start date was always seen as a best-case scenario, and with developments over the past few days, based on talks with several execs today anytime before June would be viewed as welcome,” Heyman wrote on Twitter.
Though there hasn’t been anything concrete from the NHL or MLS, chances are neither of those leagues would resume play before athletes from the NBA and MLB return to the court and field.
Though the CDC’s advice is a recommendation, not a command, it certainly looks like major sports leagues in the United States will follow it, at least for now. Obviously, things could change in the next month, but it appears we should all prepare to make it through at least the next eight weeks without having sports to distract us.
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