Yeah I’m vaguely aware of the broader context (Australia invoking anti-dumping rules against China) but I think the COVID thing probably contributed, especially with the beef bans.
Rally racing seems to require incredibly stupid fans being inches from certain death.
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Not sure if this has been posted, but appears to be some shenanigans going on with the Florida COVID dashboard:
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The fact that people sit and watch cars go in a circle 200 times might be more baffling to me than religion. 
Totally shocking news.
Multiple Major League Baseball players have already come out and said they are not going to risk Covid and take multiple pay cuts.
I think baseball won’t start soon because of the strength of the players union.
I think basketball will be thoughtful due to some of the people involved on all sides.
I think football will come like a freight train come end of summer regardless because it is the closest we have to modern day slavery.
NHL ???
Tennis, Golf etc. likely to come back. Probably some of the better sports to implement safety changes.
I think Mlb owners would have to give in a massive amount from where they are now to get it to happen. Basketball is super risky from a contact standpoint and even if they came back with isolation and massive testing, I still think people get sick and it shuts down again. Plus my understanding are the players are wholly opposed to being quarantined without their families while playing.
But don’t worry, no matter what other sports do, the NFL will be back in July / August!
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At the actual track it is fun as hell. The races are BYOB and they let you literally take coolers in. Well minus the Confederate flags and 99% white/80% boomer male fanbase. Watching it religiously on tv is what I don’t get.
There are zero North American team sports that will have a “normal” schedule before September. NBA might get games in LA or Vegas before then, but its still unclear. The NHL is run by morons and want to expand the playoffs to 24 teams, but I dont see them getting this done.
NFL gets real interesting once we get to where training camps should be open.
I imagine if the Bundesliga can pull off a months worth of games without anything going wrong, the NA leagues ramp up. If the Bundesliga shuts down in another week or two, just gg every 2019/2020 season.
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yeah. john oliver did his main bit last night on sports. it was pretty good.
he also mentioned in passing that 2 or 3 german league soccer players tested positive after playing this weekend, so even with their preventative measures they are still passing it to each other.
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Bundesliga over the weekend was elite w/o fans.
For MLB there’s a huge financial issue. Owners proposed paying players 50% of revenue in a year where obviously revenue is going to be crap. But obviously under no circumstances would they ever consider sharing revenues with players under normal circumstances. Also, revenue sharing arrangements in pro sports are typically connected to salary caps, which the MLBPA will not entertain.
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It seems that a few players had tested positive a week or two ago, not that any had tested positive after this week’s matches.
Sports returning without crowds is a good thing. If you want people to stay at home, having good entertainment options on TV is a good thing. As long as they test the athletes and coaches well, the risk of spread is low. It also saves a few jobs, which isn’t a bad thing.
My attitude on this is that they’re making millions of dollars, so they’re well compensated, and they can bring their family into isolation with them if they want. Condense the schedule so it’s more manageable in that sense, and leave it up to the players whether they want to play or not… but it’s not like forcing a grocery store cashier into work or anything.
I actually think it’s a lot tougher to navigate a player not wanting to play. Nearly every grocery store had multiple employees not want to work, so they hired new people. Baseball doesn’t have a salary cap so theoretically you just get your AAA guy to play 2b if your 2b doesn’t want to play, but would a salary cap league treat this as a LTI etc? Lots of stuff to work out.
It seems like isolation will be hotels in a lot of places. Taking a family of 4 from a multi million $ house to a hotel for months is rough.
Call me cynical but I see people crowding in bars and with friends to watch the games. And then sports happening makes people think things aren’t so bad so do I really need to be careful anymore?
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Japan did a sumo tournament without fans, it worked out fine. Although they’re bleeding money from loss of ticket sales.
Oddly enough, the lack of fans has had a positive effect on UFC imo. Fans can be infuriating especially when they boo because fighters aren’t knocking each other unconscious yet.
I mean you can really hear the punches and kicks connect with silence aside from the cornermen yelling commands at their fighter. Definitely makes you respect these fighters a whole lot more.
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North American sports don’t really depend on tickets, all the business model needs is TV revenue.