A Cautious Look at the Return of Sports… We Can Wait
As the nation celebrated Memorial Day this past weekend to honor our fallen veterans, we did so with cautious guidance from (some) of our nation’s leaders about COVID-19 social distancing. If we learned one thing, a good portion of our country is unable to heed these suggestions appropriately.
Why does this matter? The actions of these individuals puts the health, safety and lives of millions of fellow Americans at serious risk.
Surrounding the holiday weekend, we also saw serious momentum in American sports towards a return of the major sports leagues: NBA, MLB, NHL included.
Last week, the NBA announced the league had entered into exploratory conversations with The Walt Disney Company about resuming its season at Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex for later this summer. On Monday, the NHL and NHL Players’ Association released a document detailing the next phase in resuming hockey operations that will begin in early June.
The next day, Major League Baseball released a revenue-sharing plan, signifying another big step in opening the shortened baseball season by the 4th of July weekend.
Revenue Concerns
The messaging among these major sports leagues is consistent and looks something like this: “Our biggest priority must surround health concerns for all involved in a return, including athletes, coaches, and staff.”
For this sports fanatic, who is equally desperate for the return of sports as we know it, that’s great, but let’s be honest - the concerns for health and safety are taking a backseat to concerns about revenue.
Proof of this? The MLB has sent several controversial proposals to the player’s association regarding revenue sharing. Player reactions have ranged from “extremely disappointing” to “I’m not playing unless I get mine.”
Health and Safety
Although revenue sharing is an important factor in the return of some major sports leagues, it’s certainly less important than health concerns. For owners and executives, this may not be true, but for all others involved - health needs to be the top priority.
Is it possible to eliminate all health risks involved with the return of sports? The leagues have included comprehensive plans to address this, including the limiting of players and staff allowed in team facilities and required temperature tests, virus tests, and enhanced sanitary procedures.
While these steps are necessary and well-received by the general public, several factors are ignored. First off, the NHL even acknowledged these steps “may be very comprehensive, but cannot mitigate all risk.” Simply by putting these athletes and staff in settings that require closer contact and continued contact puts individuals at risk. Yes, the risk can be reduced, but only proper social distancing and quarantine eliminates this risk completely.
There’s an important human element in asking athletes to return to sports under these high-risk circumstances. What we’re asking the athletes to do is essentially place their immediate families at the same level of risk, children included, or to isolate from their families throughout the season of play. Yes, athletes spend a majority of time in-season either on the road or at the stadium. But we’re asking these athletes to isolate completely from their children, husbands, wives, during the season? Would you be willing to do so?
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Blake Snell certainly isn't:
"It doesn't make sense for me to lose all of that money and then go play and then be on lockdown, not around my family, not around the people I love, and get paid way the hell less," Snell said. “I love baseball to death. It's just not worth it."
Resources
Perhaps the most important factor in the return of sports concerns the American public at large. Will sports leagues be able to ethically rationalize the need for large amounts of testing resources, simply for a return of sports and revenue from sports?
Oakland Athletics pitcher Jake Diekman illustrated this concern earlier this month, as reported by The Big Lead.
“If they’re going to test us all the time, are we taking tests from people who really need it?” asked Diekman. “I don’t want us to get tested every other day and basically snake all these tests because they want to put on MLB, and yet let’s say the hospitals in Oakland, we’re borrowing theirs, if 50 people a day can get tested but it would be 100 if we weren’t taking them.”
Personally, I’m not ethically comfortable with the idea of risking the health and resources of people still getting sick from this virus. We can wait. If this sports fanatic can wait, then so can you.
Bundesliga 2 Case Study
Earlier this month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave the country’s two largest soccer leagues, Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2, a go-ahead to return to action under similar guidelines as proposed by American sports leagues.
Although the action has begun, this case study illustrates why sports leagues in the United States should think twice before resuming play. Following news that two players from Dynamo Dresden tested positive for the coronavirus, the team was ordered into a two-week quarantine.
Additionally, Augsburg (Bundesliga) coach Heiko Herrlich, announced that he broke a mandatory seven-day training camp quarantine for players and staff before the league resumed (to shop at a nearby supermarket). He later ruled himself out for the club’s first game.
The lesson is simple. We need to proceed with more caution before thinking about the return of sports in the United States.
We’re asking athletes, coaches and staff to risk their health and safety, risk the health and safety of their families, and potentially place a strain on health resources for the general American public. Not to mention, how long before we see a virus outbreak in one or multiple of our sports leagues? And how do we possibly respond to that?
We can wait. We should wait.
We need to wait.
