Multiple major American sports leagues, including Major League Baseball (MLB), Major League Soccer (MLS), and the National Hockey League (NHL), have announced that they are suspending or delaying all play in an attempt to curtail the spread of COVID-19. This news comes a day after the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced that they were suspending the current basketball season after a player tested positive for COVID-19.
On Wednesday, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive; then his teammate Donovan Mitchell also confirmed he has contracted the virus. Gobert apologized on Instagram for previously making light of Coronavirus: "At the time, I had no idea I was even infected. I was careless and make no excuse. I hope my story serves as a warning and causes everyone to take this seriously."
Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency in the city on Thursday, and said that large venues including Barclays Center and Madison Square Garden will likely be closed for months.
The MLB said that they are suspending the remainder of spring training and delaying the start of the 2020 season for at least two weeks. The season was scheduled to open on March 26th; it's not clear exactly what date it would begin on now, but MLB cautions that they will "continue to evaluate ongoing events leading up to the start of the season."
The MLS has suspended its season for at least 30 days while the U.S. Soccer Federation has canceled all scheduled friendly matches through April. ESPN reports that the MLS, which is two weeks into its season, is looking to reschedule the games for later in the season, rather than play behind closed doors.
The NHL said they are pausing their season, and it is because of the ramifications of the NBA decision: "The NHL has been attempting to follow the mandates of health experts and local authorities, while preparing for any possible developments without taking premature or unnecessary measures," the league said in a statement. "However, following last night's news that an NBA player has tested positive for coronavirus—and given that our leagues share so many facilities and locker rooms and it now seems likely that some member of the NHL community would test positive at some point—it is no longer appropriate to try to continue to play games at this time."
There are 189 games and three and a half weeks remaining in the NHL's 2019-2020 regular season. They add that they hope to resume play as soon as they can, "so that we will be able to complete the season and award the Stanley Cup."
After resisting it for days, the NCAA has cancelled the March Madness men's and women's basketball tournaments. Tons of other tournaments have cancelled as well, including: the Power 5 leagues (the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12), American, Atlantic 10, Conference USA, MAC, America East, Big Sky, MAAC and WAC. And the Big East cancelled their tournament during halftime of the St. John’s and Creighton game at MSG today.
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATF) has suspended their tour for six weeks, and The International Tennis Federation also announced that it is suspending play until April 20th at the earliest. ESPN reports that the Women's Tennis Association is "working on a strategy of its own in consultation with players and tournament stakeholders."
So far, the National Football League (NFL) has said it has "no plans to move the start of the league year" (which is March 18th), but the league did cancel its annual meeting that was scheduled to be held in West Palm Beach, Florida, from March 29th through April 1st.
