Melanie Jimenez/ Sports Head
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on many different industries throughout the world, namely the entertainment industries like theaters, live television shows, and sports. For Major League Baseball, which is the second largest professional sports league in the world, coming just behind the NFL in revenue for the 2019 season, the effects were felt severely.
During normal seasons, baseball begins during March and continues until September. However, because of the pandemic forcing people to quarantine during March, the season was postponed and games were canceled. This was the first time MLB games have been postponed since 2001, after the 9/11 attacks.
Normally, a total of 162 games are played per team during the official MLB season, spanning about six months total. That’s not including spring training matches and postseason games. However, on July 6, MLB released a revised schedule for the season which would include 60 matches per team (40 divisional games and 20 interleague games) and a whole list of requirements in order to allow athletes to play in games.
The list of requirements is more than eighty pages long; and it includes rules like no spitting, no audiences, and masks on all official personnel. (Not including the players on the field. However, if you are in the dugout, you must be wearing a mask.)
The list also requested frequent testing for all affiliated athletes and trainers, administered by the MLB through team doctors and athletic trainers. The tests would be sent to a site in Utah frequently used by the MLB minor league to test samples for drug usage.
These ideas have already been put into play, with all non-active players and trainers wearing masks in the dugout and bullpen, frequent COVID testing, and bringing the matches to the TV screen instead of live in the ballpark.
Of course, these are all just precautions to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Over 104 MLB athletes have been diagnosed with the virus, mostly from the Miami Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals. And while around 50 have already been cleared after contracting the virus, the outbreaks within teams proves to be very detrimental to the league.
While TV deals with channels like FOX or ESPN make up over half of the MLB’s revenue, a third of their total seasonal revenue still comes from ticket sales and another ten percent comes from concessions sold in the parks during games. Since the season was already cut short, cancelling games due to sudden outbreaks within teams means even more lost revenue for the organization.
Despite many hardships, the MLB has shown incredible resilience. Despite a shortened season, sudden cancelled games, sick and injured players, and a significant loss of revenue, the organization has continued to dedicate itself to sharing their sport.
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