NBA: The NBA has been discussing what to do surrounding the coronavirus for weeks. Following Rudy Gobert’s diagnosis on Wednesday, the NBA suspended all league activities for at least 30 days. Owners have reportedly discussed with Adam Silver to play games without fans in that 30-day window but it is a very unlikely scenario.
NHL: The NHL released a report today suspending league activities until further notice. It reads: “These are unprecedented times. As you know, the National Hockey League today announced that it would pause the regular season until further notice because of the spread of Coronavirus COVID-19. This follows similar decisions by the NBA and other sports leagues.” If the NHL season were not to resume until next year, the Boston Bruins would be named NHL champions due to a clause in the NHL rulebook.
MLB: MLB news relating to coronavirus started earlier in the week when the Seattle Mariners announced that they would not play their first seven home games in Seattle. Other cities followed suit including Cleveland. Following the NBA’s suspension of games, commissioner Rob Manfred announced that the MLB opening day would be delayed at least two weeks. It is assumed that after the two-week window concludes, the league will reevaluate depending on the status of the virus. The remainder of Spring Training has also been canceled.
NCAA: The coronavirus began to affect the NCAA earlier in the week when it was announced that March Madness games would be held without fans. Soon after, the Ivy League canceled the remainder of their league tournament. After that, most leagues followed suit and canceled their tournaments. Duke and Kansas announced that they would not be participating in March Madness if it were to take place and eventually the NCAA announced that it would be canceled altogether. There is some talk that it may be held at a later date, but it seems very unlikely. There is great uncertainty surrounding NCAA activities, and all sports, in this time period.
XFL: While many sports fans believed the XFL would not cancel their games, they were the last league to announce they would be suspending league activities. Because this is the first year of the XFL, its future is in serious jeopardy.
NFL: The NFL has repeatedly stated that coronavirus will not affect the start of the new league year on March 18th. It is likely that the draft will be held without fans, although we are still quite far away from April 23rd.
Today will be known as The Day Sports Shut Down. Hopefully, they resume soon!
