Sports Need to Come Back, and NOW.

Without much happening here in Quarantineland, we spend a lot of our day resigned to the ungratifying task of watching the news and reading the tea leaves, searching for some signal that life will return to the way it was before a coronavirus decided to stick its nose where it sure don't belong.

Those who believe they've made sense of this whole pandemic thingermabob often take to social media to proclaim what is, what isn't, what should, and what shouldn't be. It's truly incredible how many of my friends are infectious disease specialists, constitutional scholars, political policy experts, and social justice advocates all wrapped up into one! Who knew?

Newly-minted know-it-alls can be expected when our duly appointed (and highly paid) leaders seem short on plausible solutions for important concerns. Since we're all longing for a return to normal, those sports fans among us are comforted at the prospect of sports' potential reemergence, even if fans won't actually be allowed to attend games for quite some time. But, the information coming in from the talking heads, sports columnists, and league officials can be confusing enough to make us uncomfortable all over again.

You've likely heard by now that the 2020 MLB season should start at some point within the next 60 days, and we've seen at least two proposed changes our National Pastime will undergo for this year in order to efficiently manage a truncated season. Then again, we're told that baseball really doesn't know when it will start because of health concerns and other logistics. The MGM in Las Vegas has approached the NBA about creating a domed basketball village of sorts, so the league can have games in its arena and hold a playoff tournament, with the players and other league personnel staying at the hotel property. Sounds good, doesn't it? Sure; except for the fact that NBA brass admitted that there haven't been any substantive conversations yet regarding the matter. Memo to Adam Silver: What are you waiting for!?

Meanwhile, the NHL has been promising for weeks to reveal its plans for restarting the season... any day now. Fresh off the rousing success that was its remote draft, the NFL will be releasing its 2020 schedule this Thursday, May 7th, in order to give the fans a little something to get excited about, and it's insisted that the regular season will start on time this September. But, that will likely first depend on OTAs and full training camps starting on time. At least NASCAR is set to return May 17th at Darlington Speedway, without fans in attendance. If ever there was a sport perfect for social distancing, it would have to be auto racing, where competitors sit isolated in cars and try to get away from each other as fast as they can.

So there is a sliver of good news out there. Indeed the dove has returned with but the tiniest of olive branches. And while that is a step in the right direction, there's a sizable bill awaiting the leagues that's about to come due, courtesy of their fans. In a time of incredible sacrifice, with mounting unemployment and an unprecedented loss of life exacerbated by a frazzled healthcare system, those simply missing out on entertainment should be among the last to complain. Generally speaking, the level of grace and tolerance exhibited during the COVID-19 crisis has been remarkable, and that includes for the time being, people's patience when not receiving any value for the things that they pay for.

However, sports fans invest heavily in sports products year round, including purchasing tickets and subscribing to television packages. The amount of discretionary dollars dedicated to sports is substantial, as fans spend upwards of $50 Billion on tickets to games each year, and around $20 per month on average for special sports television packages in addition to their regular cable or satellite plans. It's been estimated that sports leagues stand to lose roughly $20 Billion in 2020 from cancelled games. That includes lost gate revenue as well as advertising dollars and TV revenues, among other income streams. Compounding this is the fact that fans have continued to pay for sports while getting nothing in return. While those customers have been relatively calm on the matter thus far, as personal financial pressures begin to mount due to an economy in flux, fans will rightfully demand to be compensated for games that they paid for but won't be able to see.

Some baseball fans have already filed suit against teams, seeking refunds for tickets bought to cancelled games. Teams from all sports leagues have begun to address this issue, and are now offering refunds to individual game ticket buyers, while orienting season ticket holders towards accepting a credit for next season's tickets. Subsequently, teams from all leagues are offering temporary season ticket payment deferrals for their upcoming campaigns. To date, the NHL, NBA, and MLB have cancelled about a fourth of their respective seasons, while MLS also remains in limbo, having had just started its 2020 campaign before COVID-19 hit. This puts MLB in the most precarious spot because although games may commence at some point before July 4th, an entire season without fans is a real possibility, thus completely wiping out any gameday profits, which typically accounts for about 30% of a team's total revenue. This will make the need to get sports at least back on television all the more urgent as teams will rely more heavily on the broadcast revenue not only for income but to help offset the money getting paid back to fans for cancelled games. Teams could typically take out loans to help make ends meet for the time being, but with so much lending required now for other types of businesses both large and small, it remains to be seen if teams will be able to borrow all that they need to mitigate the losses.

Technically speaking, while games were shut off from fans, they were never mandated to cease, just like most businesses were never mandated to close. The prudent decision to shut down was made by the leagues themselves in response to players testing positive for COVID-19 and other associated risks including travel. But that doesn't mean that at this juncture leagues that were supposed to be playing right now, could not have figured out a way to get back in action. Case in point, WWE and its competitor AEW have continued to hold single location, televised events without fans in attendance. If wrestling can keep functioning, surely sports with much less contact can as well. So, if paths to play present themselves, leagues should find ways to navigate them in order to get sports back out in front of the public. Set a date, and make it happen. This would alleviate mounting pressures of lost revenues. It would also provide fans with the content that they're still paying for, as well as much-needed levity.

As much as my 11-year old son and I got a kick out of watching marble racing and death diving on ESPN 8 "The Ocho" the other night, that's not what we bargained for when I took the premium sports package with my cable subscription. Besides, is anybody really all that jazzed up to watch Korean league baseball? While that might be interesting to a point, it would probably end up making many of us resent the absence of our own sports leagues even more. Pretty soon, even the most easy going customer will start to demand refunds from the cable company or satellite provider for the content missing on national and regional sports networks, all of which can be avoided when sports returns.

Reopening society and the economy is no simple feat when challenged by a pathogen that's still as mysterious and dangerous as COVID-19. Throughout the social distancing and the closing of businesses and cultural institutions, our collective resourcefulness has shown remarkable mettle. Students have managed to learn, businesses have found ways to operate, and grocery store stock boys are now among our most essential workers. However frustrating it may be, it's understandable how difficult it is in uncertain times to come across firm guidance from politicians and assorted experts. And Facebook certainly doesn't shed any light except to help us discover how dangerously misguided many people really are. So, perhaps we can find true inspiration in the countless examples of those, who out of duty and necessity, and with limited resources are finding ways to safely and carefully make things work in this most unconventional of situations. With all that our leagues have at that their disposal, it's time that sports did the same.

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