In the travel biz, we're being told by our various associations (CLIA and IATA for us) that we should go ahead and anticipate the travel ban being extended to match the CDC's restrictions on gatherings. The gist there being that cruises are unlikely to resume until the end of that 8 week period, but extending that to the sports world it means that the NHL and NBA are going to have a tough time resuming play until mid-May ... which would require some ramp-up and probably extend things WELL into the summer if they intend to play even a heavily modified playoff schedule.
That's my thinking. Also, Canada is VERY likely to tighten entry requirements for travelers from the US, and that would kill any chance any of the major pro leagues have of resuming activity in the short term. Plus, the NHL and NBA have to release their European players to go to their actual homes at some point. You can't effectively hold those guys hostage indefinitely.
Visas can be extended, or new ones issued. I don't think that's a problem. The problem would be that you'd have to cram a LOT of stuff into a VERY short period of time if that travel ban is extended to mid-May. I mean ... fine, maybe so. Personally, if that ban is extended then I'm not counting on more hockey this season.
So do yeah ... and we'll have to wait and see if we have playoffs or not.
Turns out they ended up just extending their shutdown through May and released the players to return home. Not sure if they changed course or if the reporting was presumptive. Either way the AHL is basically one step ahead of the NHL now, simply by having set a "at least through" date for their shutdown.
www.tsn.ca
Maybe more noon games in August/September will help!
www.nhl.com
Compared to the rise in cost for every other set of tickets I buy, the cost for college football has barely changed at all in the last decade. That's NOT it. The culture of how we watch college football has changed for sure, and the Championship tier teams are now pretty much playing a different sport than the "other guys." I think that's a much bigger factor.
Locker rooms are TERRIBLE environments for this kind of stuff, no matter the level of cleaning. It was good that the various leagues shut it down as quickly as they did because the spread could have been a LOT worse than what we're going to see.The NHL has its first cases. An Ottawa Senators player has tested positive and multiple players are ill and awaiting test results. They played the Kings at Staples Center in the last game before the league suspended, where the Brooklyn Nets had played the night before. The Nets announced yesterday that they had 4 positives.
Senators player tests positive for COVID-19 | Ottawa Senators
OTTAWA (March 17, 2020) - An Ottawa Senators player has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. The player has had mild symptoms and is in isolation.
