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The state of California is home to A LOT of professional sports teams. They’ve got the Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, Kings, 49ers, Dodgers, Padres, Angels, Sharks, and the list keeps going. You get the point. Nearly 40 million Americans call California home and those professional sports teams rely on those fans to buy tickets.
California Governor Gavin Newsom just served those teams (and fans) some pretty grim news.
On the same day the NFL was announcing its 2020 schedule, Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters during a press conference that he doesn’t think it’s likely there will be large scale sporting events with fans in attendance for anywhere between 12-to-18 months, not until there’s a vaccine available.
This is all consistent with Newsom’s previous statements on the subject. He’s continued to say California will reopen slowly and following scientific guidance, not economic concerns.
Newsom offered a regretful response during his daily news conference Thursday when asked if the games will go on as the state eases COVID-19 restrictions in the months ahead. Newsom said he doesn’t envision large-scale, live-audience sporting events until a vaccine is available, and that is unlikely to happen for a minimum of 12 to 18 months, according to medical experts.
“It’s difficult to imagine a stadium that’s filled until we have immunity, until we have a vaccine,” Newsom said. (via Sacbee)
Gov. Newsom, on the day the NFL is set to announce its 2020 schedule: "It's difficult for me to imagine a stadium that's filled until we have immunity, until we have a vaccine." This is consistent with his previous remarks on this topic. (h/t: @BenFischerSBJ) pic.twitter.com/5lLyeZZmWL
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) May 7, 2020
The MLB All-Star Game was previously scheduled to be held at Dodger Stadium on July 14th. I think everyone’s assumed for a while that would need to be canceled, postponed, or rescheduled.
The Sacramento Kings are set to resume practice facility operations this coming Monday while following guidelines set forth by both the NBA and the Sacramento County Department of Health Services. So some teams are moving forth as if there will be league play on the horizon.
Some teams are less eager to get back to work. A report in the LA Times shows that some older staff might not be ready to face this danger head-on just yet:
“I’m a husband, I’m a father. There are many guys in the league with underlying conditions, with preexisting conditions, like diabetes and heart arrhythmias,” McHugh said. “You look at our coaching staffs, there’s tons of guys over 65. Umpires, there’s a lot of guys over 65. When you’re talking about the risk factors here, there are going to be some guys who sincerely have to weigh the risks of what it’s going to take to come back versus staying at home.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom posed the question of what would happen if professional sports resumed and players contracted the coronavirus during the season. What then? Do the teams shut it down. Are the games postponed while everyone waits it out to see if they’re sick? There are still so many loose ends with the proposals to resume professional sports it all seems premature to think the NFL will operate normally in the Fall.
But there’s still plenty of time between now and then for new treatments to be discovered and the testing supply chain to be bolstered and a thousand other variables could change so it’s important to remain optimistic.
For more on this, you can click here to visit Sacbee.