The Return of Sports

This week, I’m doing a camp to continue improving my sportswriting. Here’s my article from today. Enjoy!

The COVID-19 pandemic has sent the world into a frenzy. The virus had the same effect on sports that it did every other field, forcing all major North American sports to halt their seasons shortly after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive on March 11th.

Many sports have found ways of adapting to keep fans engaged, such as an NBA HORSE competition, celebrity video game tournaments on titles like Madden, and sports like the NFL, MLB, and WNBA holding their annual drafts remotely. 

Although viewers were deprived of live sports, interest in the competitions didn’t stop, with Yahoo! Sports reporting an average of  5.648 million viewers tuning in for The Last Dance, a documentary on Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. Unfortunately, other ESPN projects didn’t do as well, with Sports Media Watch tracking only around a million viewers for 30 for 30s Lance, Be Water, and Long Gone Summer. 

Clearly, consumers’ interest in games of the past has waned, with fans getting restless for live events. Fortunately, they won’t be waiting for much longer.

The professional ranks of sports have hit the gas, albeit without fans. Already, golf has held two special matches of 4 players, and 2 more events on the PGA Tour. All 5 of Europe’s biggest soccer leagues have resumed to conclude their title chases.

Combat sports fanatics have gone back to their normal schedule, with Top Rank Boxing occurring twice a week and weekly UFC matches entertaining the masses.  For fans of racing, both cars and horses have begun zooming around the track again, as NASCAR’s tour rages on and the Triple Crown starts up again, with the Belmont Stakes declaring a winner last week. 

Other pro ventures have cautiously waded into their seasons, with uncertainty at every step. After months of bickering, Rob Manfred and the MLB’s owners electing for a 60 game schedule beginning in late July. 

The details are still murky, with ESPN’s Jeff Passan referring to the situation as a “logistical nightmare.” We may see America’s Pastime this year, but the all-out war between the two sides points to a strike soon, as Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer tweeted out that baseball is driving itself off a cliff following the strong arming by owners. 

The NBA has one of the best relationships between owners and players. This was on full display when only one owner and zero player reps voted against the NBA’s plan to play at Orlando’s Disney World in a bubble. 

However, the plan is not without pitfalls. Following the George Floyd tragedy, Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving made a call to action, asking for players not to go to Orlando and protest instead, citing dangerous health conditions and a groundbreaking social issue. 

Another concern has been the surge in positive COVID-19 tests in Florida, the site of the bubble. CBS News reported yesterday that the Sunshine State has topped 100,000 cases. This is an obvious concern for players, who would have a chance of getting the deadly virus from Disney employees going out into the world, possibly interacting with people with coronavirus and passing it to some of the NBA players

Whether for financial, social, or health reasons, Yahoo! Sports has already reported that Washington Wizard Davis Bertans, Los Angeles Laker Avery Bradley and Portland Trail Blazer Trevor Ariza are electing to sit the postseason out. With Denver star Nikola Jokic getting the virus, it’s entirely possible that more people sit out. 

Who knows how sports will change for the future? The only thing we can be sure of is the uncertainty for the upcoming months and years. For the better or worse, sports will be drastically different for the foreseeable future.