How COVID-19 will affect Bay Area sports for the 2020 season

We are in undoubtedly the most unprecedented time, with COVID-19 changing our daily lives. With California under strict stay-at-home order, many are wondering what will happen to Bay Area sports, among other events.

What a strange, unique, stressful time we’re living in. COVID-19 has paused the world temporarily, which includes all sports. The Bay Area has been hit extremely hard by the virus.

We’ve already passed one month since the NBA and NHL announced they would postpone or cancel their leagues until further notice.

But if those leagues and any other like the MLS and MLB decide they can play, chances are nothing will be happening in California for the remainder of 2020 and possibly into 2021.

As reported by Marty Johnson of The Hill, California governor Gavin Newsom figures watching sports in arenas and stadiums are “unlikely” for the next four months.

Newsom said, “Large-scale events that bring in hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of strangers, are not in the cards based upon our current guidelines and expectations.”

Unfortunately, this means no attending games at Oracle Park to see the new-look San Francisco Giants, or crossing the Golden Gate Bridge to hit up the Coliseum to watch the Oakland Athletics.

It also means there’s a chance we won’t see the San Jose Sharks, Golden State Warriors, and Sacramento Kings among other professional teams in Northern California play for the foreseeable future.

Now, this is a rapidly changing event. But we should be prepared for the chance of the 2020-2021 professional sports season to be put on hold as well — though we won’t think about it too much for sanity purposes.

However, what if there was a way we could still watch sports without going out for the time being?

ESPN reports Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is a top infectious diseases expert, said “Nobody comes to the stadiums. Put the players in big hotels, wherever you want to play, keep them very well surveilled.”

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Dr. Fauci suggests this is the only way we’d be able to watch sports this summer. Earlier this month it was reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan, MLB was looking into playing their season in Arizona.

TSN’s Darren Dreger reports in a series of tweets, President Donald Trump spoke to the commissioners of all four major leagues in the US and Canada, as well as some owners to discuss the possibilities of resuming or starting their seasons.

Of course, once we get clearance from head medical personal and the governments, there is still going to be cautious optimism. Social distancing will most likely still be in place, which begs the question of how will sports look within the coming year?

Will there be fewer tickets sold for games to allow for the minimum amount of space required between people? Just like metal detectors in arenas and stadiums, will there be mandatory temperature checks and sanitization stations?

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We all hope sports will come back sooner than later. But to get to the promised land, we must continue to follow the social distancing rules and stay home as much as possible.

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