Riverdale Junior Analyzes the Collapse and Comeback of Professional Sports
The NBA introduces new court at Walt Disney World – Photo Courtesy of The Undefeated
When Riverdale transitioned to remote learning last spring, the sports world simultaneously shut down due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is an overview of what three major sports leagues did, how they’ve come back, and some thoughts from Riverdale members on the strategies each league has taken to rebound.
On March 12th, Major League Baseball shut down all of its spring training facilities. During the next few months, the MLB organized how they would return to action and managed an intense labor dispute between owners and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA). This labor dispute cast the sport in a negative light, heightened by the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing investigations into their 2017 and 2018 seasons.
The owners and the MLBPA finally agreed to terms, and Spring Training 2.0, also known as Summer Camp, began on July 3rd. On July 23rd, the MLB started its 60-game season with the New York Yankees opening against the Washington Nationals and the San Francisco Giants playing the Los Angeles Dodgers. Although a few teams had to cancel their games due to COVID-19 outbreaks, the MLB finished its regular season on September 27th and playoffs started on September 29th.
Some new rule changes the MLB implemented this season included a three batter minimum for relievers, the universal designated hitter, and seven inning doubleheaders. Charlie Selbin, a current junior, has mixed feelings on the new rule changes. “I think the three-batter minimum and the Universal DH should stay, but the others need to go in order to keep the sport’s integrity,” he said. Although the MLB was the first sports league to come back, its viewership for this truncated season has been worse than average. A game televised by Fox this season between the Cubs and Royals was the network’s lowest-viewed MLB game in over two years.
While baseball may be losing popularity among teenagers, many Riverdale students are looking forward to the upcoming playoffs. Jake Siden, a current junior, is “interested to see how the top teams, such as the Yankees and Dodgers, handle the pressure in the age of little to no fans.”
Similar to the MLB, the National Basketball Association shut down its regular season on March 12th. Since NBA rosters are quite small, the NBA organized “an isolation zone (commonly referred to as the “NBA Bubble”)” at Walt Disney World in Orlando so they could safely finish their season and playoffs.
On July 30th, the NBA started its first games in the new bubble. Because all of the teams had to play in Orlando, they did not have any home-court advantage. Although many NBA games during the regular season and postseason have been extremely exciting so far, ratings have still dropped. The first game of the Heat/Lakers final had the lowest rating (4.1) and fewest viewers ever (7.4 million). Since the season has wrapped up, the NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, will have to think about ways to boost viewership for the 2020-2021 NBA season.
The National Football League has also needed to adapt to CO- VID-19. The NFL’s Super Bowl took place in February right before the shut down due to COVID-19.
When preparing for the 2020- 2021 season, the NFL made a few minor changes. There were no pre-season games and 26 out of the 32 teams are still not allowing fans to attend games. Three weeks into the NFL season, there have been no season threatening outbreaks, although a few coaches have been fined for not wearing masks during games.
As the season progresses, there are concerns about outbreaks and violations of COVID-19 protocols from the players. As of October 5th, for example, the Patriots/ Chiefs game has been postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
With an abbreviated training camp and no preseason games, there has been an unprecedented amount of injuries thus far. Almost every team has lost several starting players to injury through the first three weeks of the season.
For example, The New York Giants lost their best player, Saquon Barkley, to an ACL injury in Week Two. Jack Zeidel says, “He needs to stay healthy if he wants the Giants to win.” Hopefully the NFL season will have better viewership than the MLB and NBA.
