News dropped Wednesday night that the NBA will suspend the rest of the season due to Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert’s positive coronavirus test.
With the rapid spread of this virus touching places all over the globe, will other sports follow suit in suspending their seasons?
It was recently announced that the NCAA March Madness tournament will be played without spectators during any games. The Olympics have had internal discussions about postponing the games in China until further notice. The Seattle Mariners will not play home games in Seattle during the month of March, and the Italian Soccer league and MLS cancelled their seasons, as well.
What does this mean for the nearly-concluded NHL season and the soon-to-begin MLB season?
The NHL has not suspended play, although such a decision seems inevitable. While that announcement may come soon, hockey fans should brace for some sort of shortened season, whether it be canceled fully or resumed right to the playoffs when everything is safer for its players, fans, and employees.
Major League Baseball will most likely push back opening day with the thought of shortening the season depending on when it is deemed safe to play at full capacity. With the added pressure that this NBA announcement brought to every league, expect MLB to at least push back the date of Opening Day while shortening the number of games played until the virus is properly handled by federal and medical professionals.
Until these decisions have been made and are released to the public, we will not know for sure how this outbreak will impact the landscape of sports in 2020.
