For now, a world without sports:
With the Coronavirus now a pandemic, countries have been taking major measures to try to stop the virus. This week, most sports leagues have joined in the discussion and are canceling or postponing events and seasons.
As of now, the NBA, MLS, MLB, NHL, and PGA Tour have suspended play. The Masters has been postponed. The NBA was the first league to do so after Utah Jazz Center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus on Wednesday before their tip-off in Oklahoma City. Gobert, prior to testing positive, was in a press conference and was asked about the virus and proceeded to walk out and touch all the microphones and recorders in the room. The following day, the other major professional leagues also suspended their seasons.
Players and Owners have reached out to the employees of the arenas who will be affected the most by the suspended leagues. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is working on a plan to help get employees paid for what were supposed to be the next four home games. Cleveland Cavaliers Forward Kevin Love donated $100,000 dollars to help the employees who will be affected by the NBA Suspension.
On Thursday the NCAA canceled all of their tournaments including the NCAA tournament. One of the referees in the CAA tournament-tested positive for the virus. Most college campuses are closed throughout the country transitioning students to online classes. In addition to college basketball, College baseball and softball games were canceled and so were the college track national championships.
As of Friday morning, NASCAR and most European soccer leagues have suspended its upcoming contests due to the virus. In the English Premier League, Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta has been one of the latest to test positive for the virus.
The NFL has even been affected by the coronavirus, as they canceled league meetings in Palm Beach and are monitoring the situation to see if they will need to move the draft. NFL Free Agency is still scheduled to run as normal starting next Wednesday. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio on the Joe Rose Show on Friday said the NFL did not handle the situation well. Florio said that the NFL should not participate in free agency next week due to the coronavirus and should have been one of the first leagues to postpone events.
The only league still moving through with activities at the moment is the UFC which has fights in Brazil tomorrow.