Will COVID-19 be the needle that finally bursts the sports bubble?

Posted that in the NHL thread as well. Minor league teams are completely dependent on gate/concession revenue. I don't see a scenario where any minor league in any sport plays this year.

EDIT: The exception being golf, though people weren't breaking down the doors to go to Korn Ferry Tour events anyway.

 

Especially at the lower levels in baseball. If you’re not a candidate for the Majors this year, you’re not playing.
MLB wanted to whack dozens of minor league teams before this. The virus may do the dirty work.

 

I just thought about what happens to minor league players if there is a season this year ... do they all just stay at their respective spring-training facilities playing instrasquad games? Will MLB subsidize Triple-A affiliates so they can host games yet still survive financially with no fans in the stadium?

 

So if one of the fighters or anyone else who was at UFC 249 gets sick, they're shit out of luck, I guess.

Report: UFC 249 Participants Asked To Sign Waiver Regarding COVID-19 Protocols

 

Assumption of risk doctrine, I suppose.

 

The MAC is cutting back on many of its postseason tournaments, with several being eliminated entirely.

MAC eliminating and scaling back postseason tournaments

 

We've been told forever that these conferences need the revenue from these tournaments, and that's why they're so sacred. I guess that isn't the case. Maybe it is for the power conferences, but not for someone like the MAC. Can't be cheap to rent out Quicken Loans or Little Caesar's to play in front of several thousand people.

If this gets us to a point where there are more conference games in basketball so that we consider cutting way down on tournaments, that'll be a good byproduct of this whole mess. The eighth-place team in the Big South shouldn't have a chance to get to the NCAA Tournament. Take the top four in each league and play it off at the regular-season champion.

 

Leadville 100 (MTB and trail run) canceled - along with all the ancillary events around it.

 

Saw this last night. It makes perfect sense. No need for conference tournaments in minor sports; no need for teams 9-12 to make the revenue tournament, basketball. Increasing the # of league games from 18 to 20 makes basketball scheduling easier, eliminating most conference tournaments increases the value of the regular season, and eliminating half the field at the conference swimming meet has no impact at all on the outcome.

One of the reasons I like the Pac-12. No conference tournaments, except for hoops; everybody plays everyone (except for two skips in FB), and in some sports there is a complete home-and-home round-robin. The regular season matters.

 

Serious question: Have we heard anything out of the CPBL or the Korean League that is worrisome, now that both have been up and going without fans for a little bit?

 

University of Akron, which dumps millions into a failed football program, cuts men’s golf and cross country and women’s tennis to make up for it:

Campus Message from AD Larry Williams - University of Akron Athletics