When Will the 2020 MLB Season Begin? (Poll)

[weams]

58 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

Are the cable subscribers getting money back on their monthly cable bill, as there are no games to broadcast?

So when the summer Olympic games get canceled, will NBC get back their 1.4Billion fee to purchase the rights to broadcast the game?

I wouldnt be so quick to assume yes, figuring the contract would take up several hundred pages, and a dream team of lawyers on each side arguing.

@Frobby

What say you?

The Olympics will get broadcast next year.

[Redskins Rick]

1 hour ago, weams said:

The Olympics will get broadcast next year.

Quote

It's unclear when officials will reschedule the games.

 

[atomic]

2 hours ago, Redskins Rick said:

 

They could do it in 2022 same year as the winter Olympics.  Get them back being together.

[atomic]

Sounds like IOC is going to postpone the Olympics.  

[El Gordo]

[Yossarian]

We have gone all in on this virus spread prevention.  With a reliable vaccine months (18? 24?) away, I just don't see anyone putting themselves out there and okaying large gatherings until this thing is either eradicated or a widespread vaccine against it is available.  My prediction is no baseball this year, no college football or NFL in the fall, and no NCAA basketball for the 2020-21 season.  We will have to get through next winter/spring before people are comfortable enough that this is under control before we gather in large groups again.  To go all in like we have to the point of government mandated businesses closures, quarantines, etc., they are not going to give the "all clear" notice unless they are sure they will be justified for taking the measures they have.  A relapse or another flare up next winter will be damning.

[UMDTerrapins]

Would MLB hold a regular schedule without fans in attendance? The sport doesn’t have the direct contact issues that football and basketball do. If CV tests were to become readily available enough that players could be regularly screened, would the players union agree? I could see an important social benefit to having baseball in this time, even if it’s televised only. 

[weams]

11 minutes ago, UMDTerrapins said:

Would MLB hold a regular schedule without fans in attendance? The sport doesn’t have the direct contact issues that football and basketball do. If CV tests were to become readily available enough that players could be regularly screened, would the players union agree? I could see an important social benefit to having baseball in this time, even if it’s televised only. 

No. I do not think so. 

[UMDTerrapins]

1 hour ago, weams said:

No. I do not think so. 

I’m not so sure. It’s hard to imagine any time in 2020 when it will be ok to put a crowd of 20k+ people together in close quarters. So if the choice is to cancel the entire season or play for the tv audience only, what are the finances of that? Do the owners have a force majeure provision in the CBA or their player contracts? I assume they do. I would expect there will be growing pressure to play the games, with or without fans. 

[weams]

6 minutes ago, UMDTerrapins said:

I’m not so sure. It’s hard to imagine any time in 2020 when it will be ok to put a crowd of 20k+ people together in close quarters. So if the choice is to cancel the entire season or play for the tv audience only, what are the finances of that? Do the owners have a force majeure provision in the CBA or their player contracts? I assume they do. I would expect there will be growing pressure to play the games, with or without fans. 

They are not flying teams of millionaires anywhere. 

[survivedc]

37 minutes ago, weams said:

They are not flying teams of millionaires anywhere. 

Apparently it is something that has been and is being discussed. At least to start the season.

[UMDTerrapins]

38 minutes ago, weams said:

They are not flying teams of millionaires anywhere. 

Don’t they privately charter planes when they travel? 
 

I’m not advocating for it necessarily, I just think if their options are to either to cancel the season entirely or play games without fans, they might opt to play without fans....if the finances push them to do so. I’d love to know if the owners and/or players are financially motivated to play if the games can’t be attended. 

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

2 hours ago, UMDTerrapins said:

Would MLB hold a regular schedule without fans in attendance? The sport doesn’t have the direct contact issues that football and basketball do. If CV tests were to become readily available enough that players could be regularly screened, would the players union agree? I could see an important social benefit to having baseball in this time, even if it’s televised only. 

I'm sure they're open to anything. The CDC recommended that groups of more than 50 people should be avoided until May 10th. MLB has publicly committed to honoring that guidance for the Regular Season.

The next few weeks will tell us a lot. Some epidemiologists are predicting that we'll hit the peak in the US in about three weeks. Others are predicting far longer. At the moment, nothing is certain. But, we'll know much more soon.

But, to answer your question - I think anything is on the table. Regular Season games without fans, a limit to stadium capacity, etc.

[UMDTerrapins]

4 minutes ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

I'm sure they're open to anything. The CDC recommended that groups of more than 50 people should be avoided until May 10th. MLB has publicly committed to honoring that guidance for the Regular Season.

The next few weeks will tell us a lot. Some epidemiologists are predicting that we'll hit the peak in the US in about three weeks. Others are predicting far longer. At the moment, nothing is certain. But, we'll know much more soon.

But, to answer your question - I think anything is on the table. Regular Season games without fans, a limit to stadium capacity, etc.

It’s a tough call. After the peak (which I think is a few weeks away), we’ll still have to indefinitely suppress exposure to avoid a new wave. So unless a wildly effective treatment becomes available, they’re looking not being able to have attended games until a vaccine is widely available. And then you’re looking at the 2021 season as well. So if the decision is ultimately the same (don’t play without fans or play without fans) and it is a financially driven decision, delaying that decision worsens the challenges MLB will face. If you’re going to play without fans, at least for a portion of the season until conditions allow, the biggest roadblock would the current inability to regularly test players. And that may be more of the driver that is delaying the start of the season than the expectation of when it will be medically safe to pack 10k - 40k people together again. 

[Wish]

2 hours ago, weams said:

They are not flying teams of millionaires anywhere. 

These millionaires don't get paid unless we start the season right?  At some point these players are going to want to get back to work.  Government isn't going to help pay the mortgages to their expensive houses.

Starting the season in June without fans in the stands makes sense, assuming abundant testing and treatments are working.