Coronavirus - All Sports

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Fri May 01, 2020 3:25 pm

wlu_lax6 wrote: ↑Fri May 01, 2020 3:23 pm
A_B wrote: ↑Fri May 01, 2020 3:14 pm
wlu_lax6 wrote: ↑Fri May 01, 2020 3:12 pm big opportunity for minor leagues. Of course millionaires who have made it won't want to play. No pressure. But minor league players in all sports would sacrifice family for a chance to shine for a bit. Not sure what TV impact and fan reaction would be, but if the NBA is a no go, the G-leaguers or MILB folks would probably sacrifice for $ and a shot.
And probably be labelled as scabs for their effort.
I was really thinking about the whole league playing. I.E. minor league sports get the spotlight, not the pro leagues coming back.

But the nba pretty much runs the g league right? I can't see them saying these guys are expendable.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Fri May 01, 2020 3:28 pm

wlu_lax6 wrote: ↑Fri May 01, 2020 3:12 pm big opportunity for minor leagues. Of course millionaires who have made it won't want to play. No pressure. But minor league players in all sports would sacrifice family for a chance to shine for a bit.

Literally, perhaps?

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Wed May 06, 2020 11:41 am

Well the minor leagues are going to take advantage of it
Premier Lacrosse League is going full on fanless quarantine season
3 weeks with games almost every day.
7/25-8/6...date is important
League has a deal with NBC
Announcement this morning on NBC's Today Show.
and the dates...well they were during the original Olympic window...NBC has lots of hours to fill since they had been planning 24/7 coverage in Tokyo.
League's 2nd year and it was a traveling season last year. So this will save $, still give them TV. They draw okay but did not fill up too many venues. So no marketing on ticket sales, etc and the investments on camera work, mic'd up players and refs, etc will be good for more mainstream leagues to see.
Mostly young guys with no kids that spend the summers running lacrosse camps, clubs, and such. This will be a good opportunity.

My college coach is the coach of one of the teams (his team won it all last year). Many of my teammates would consider 3 weeks quarantined with him the worst thing that could happen.

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... lash/56384

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed May 06, 2020 11:54 am

This is really going to test people's "I would watch any sport I could right now" declarations.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Wed May 06, 2020 11:58 am

mister d wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 11:54 am This is really going to test people's "I would watch any sport I could right now" declarations.

My son hates soccer, and was really excited to start watching the Bundesliga. I'm bummed they pushed back the season.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Wed May 06, 2020 1:12 pm

Has horse racing picked up? The local sports radio show did a watch the ponies together, bet, thing on FB live. Wonder if they have seen numbers increase with less competition.

I just read that one of the virtual cycling races drew 600,000 viewers in Belgium.

Post by **Sabo** » Wed May 06, 2020 1:17 pm

The Sybian wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 11:58 am
mister d wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 11:54 am This is really going to test people's "I would watch any sport I could right now" declarations.
My son hates soccer, and was really excited to start watching the Bundesliga. I'm bummed they pushed back the season.

To when? I thought they were starting on the 15th.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Wed May 06, 2020 1:42 pm

Sabo wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 1:17 pm
The Sybian wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 11:58 am
mister d wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 11:54 am This is really going to test people's "I would watch any sport I could right now" declarations.
My son hates soccer, and was really excited to start watching the Bundesliga. I'm bummed they pushed back the season.
To when? I thought they were starting on the 15th.

15th with a backup of the 22nd. All 1st and 2nd flight teams have had one round of testing with 10 cases found. Teams are expected to have their reserves and u-19s ready to go for the big boys.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/german-bund ... -to-resume

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Wed May 06, 2020 1:58 pm

Sabo wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 1:17 pm
The Sybian wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 11:58 am
mister d wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 11:54 am This is really going to test people's "I would watch any sport I could right now" declarations.
My son hates soccer, and was really excited to start watching the Bundesliga. I'm bummed they pushed back the season.
To when? I thought they were starting on the 15th.

The League set a May 9th start date, then the government pushed it back. I read the government was expected to push it back to the 22nd, but they went with the 15th.

Post by **Sabo** » Wed May 06, 2020 2:22 pm

Thanks, fellas.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu May 07, 2020 12:25 pm

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Thu May 07, 2020 1:54 pm

That's a leap.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Thu May 07, 2020 2:06 pm

Giff wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 1:54 pmThat's a leap.

Agreed. Every pro sports league is going to try its damndest to re-open as soon as is possible, and in all cases before the fall. That would be true regardless of if it were a presidential election year. And ESPN needs to cover something with live sports shut down.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Thu May 07, 2020 2:53 pm

Joe K wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 2:06 pm
Giff wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 1:54 pmThat's a leap.
Agreed. Every pro sports league is going to try its damndest to re-open as soon as is possible, and in all cases before the fall. That would be true regardless of if it were a presidential election year. And ESPN needs to cover something with live sports shut down.

Yes, leagues have millions of reasons to come back (where is TO's old PR lady, anyway?). But, there's no way he hasn't been angling for NFL to come back.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu May 07, 2020 2:56 pm

Right. Its not implying they would stay closed if not for their love of Trump, its that they're going to recklessly reopen to mutual gains while providing mutual cover.

Post by **brian** » Thu May 07, 2020 2:59 pm

mister d wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 2:56 pm Right. Its not implying they would stay closed if not for their love of Trump, its that they're going to recklessly reopen to mutual gains while providing mutual cover.

Maybe? Too early to say honestly. Some of them maybe not have that luxury if the virus continues to spread at current rate and/or if there's a "second wave".

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Thu May 07, 2020 3:06 pm

mister d wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 2:56 pm Right. Its not implying they would stay closed if not for their love of Trump, its that they're going to recklessly reopen to mutual gains while providing mutual cover.

If the virus is still at peak levels in a couple months and the NFL still plans on keeping the schedule, then we'll find out if the NFLPA has any nuts at all.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Thu May 07, 2020 3:56 pm

Dave Zirin has thoughts.

Post by **brian** » Thu May 07, 2020 3:58 pm

It's obviously not implausible, but neither Trump nor even the NFL owners can unilaterally decide to play the season over the objections of local governments in the cities where the teams play.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Thu May 07, 2020 4:00 pm

brian wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 3:58 pm It's obviously not implausible, but neither Trump nor even the NFL owners can unilaterally decide to play the season over the objections of local governments in the cities where the teams play.

Right, but Trump is all-in on getting the NFL going because he can ride "I brought the NFL back" and it will never get pushed back on in any meaningful way.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Thu May 07, 2020 4:06 pm

At least he’d lose Michigan

Post by **brian** » Thu May 07, 2020 4:07 pm

Ryan wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 4:06 pm At least he’d lose Michigan

Heh

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Fri May 08, 2020 6:08 am

Just checked in with DAZN to see if it was covering Korean soccer (what a pathetic sentence).

It's not, but it is covering the Darts matches held in players' individual homes, and online chess.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Fri May 08, 2020 8:03 am

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Fri May 08, 2020 8:11 am

To be clear, I agree that Trump is definitely trying to use the NFL reopening as part of his re-election campaign. I just think team owners and TV networks (i.e., ESPN) would be acting the same way regardless of presidential politics given their own independent financial incentives.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Fri May 08, 2020 8:18 am

Pruitt wrote: ↑Fri May 08, 2020 6:08 am Just checked in with DAZN to see if it was covering Korean soccer (what a pathetic sentence).

It's not, but it is covering the Darts matches held in players' individual homes, and online chess.

DAZN had J-League before.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Fri May 08, 2020 8:20 am

Same, but like I said above, its also clear that being on the same page benefits both.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Fri May 08, 2020 9:14 am

Interview with Paul Rabil (founder of the Pro Lacrosse League I pointed to above). Clear the white house is working with the pro leagues. He mentioned that he had to network his way into an invite into those meetings. Indicated that there was some good inside information being shared to help the leagues plan.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Fri May 08, 2020 5:16 pm

I find it’s a lot more fun to watch these classic games when I never would have watched it live and have no idea who won, like every Big Ten football championship game.

Post by **brian** » Fri May 08, 2020 6:06 pm

Rex wrote: ↑Fri May 08, 2020 5:16 pm I find it’s a lot more fun to watch these classic games when I never would have watched it live and have no idea who won, like every Big Ten football championship game.

Oh, absolutely. Give me a random Big Ten game between Illinois and Indiana from the 80s at this point. I would eat that shit up.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Fri May 08, 2020 6:51 pm

If they let me bet on random games and just told me the teams and year, I would keep it on the level and not look up the result.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Mon May 11, 2020 1:32 pm

AHL and Calder Cup canned for the season due to Corona.
Bummer.
AHL leader in points is a kid from Potomac, MD (not too far from nonlinear-ville). Only the 2nd kid from Montgomery Youth Hockey Association to sign an NHL contract (he has a 2 way deal with the Wild)

Rams Fanny · Post by **Rams Fanny** » Mon May 11, 2020 7:56 pm

I am at a complete loss as to why the Bundesliga (and KBO for that matter) is scheduling 5 games together and not staggering them 2-2.5hrs apart. They have no fans to worry about and this is mostly for TV. Seems to me this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to market all teams to a captive worldwide audience.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Mon May 11, 2020 8:19 pm

Someone, (Javier Tebas, head of La Liga, I think), mentioned that their sport was going to play games every day when they come back.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Mon May 11, 2020 8:37 pm

Rams Fanny wrote: ↑Mon May 11, 2020 7:56 pm I am at a complete loss as to why the Bundesliga (and KBO for that matter) is scheduling 5 games together and not staggering them 2-2.5hrs apart. They have no fans to worry about and this is mostly for TV. Seems to me this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to market all teams to a captive worldwide audience.

I imagine it’s because they are on an accelerated schedule to get as many games in as possible.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Tue May 12, 2020 6:27 am

A_B wrote: ↑Mon May 11, 2020 8:37 pm
Rams Fanny wrote: ↑Mon May 11, 2020 7:56 pm I am at a complete loss as to why the Bundesliga (and KBO for that matter) is scheduling 5 games together and not staggering them 2-2.5hrs apart. They have no fans to worry about and this is mostly for TV. Seems to me this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to market all teams to a captive worldwide audience.
I imagine it’s because they are on an accelerated schedule to get as many games in as possible.

Because it is still a competitive race at the top and bottom? Figure with the compressed schedule they want equal rest for each team. Trying to keep the games somewhat equal on the sporting level.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Tue May 12, 2020 6:53 am

F.K. Slutsk and Aussies
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/12/spor ... -fans.html

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Tue May 12, 2020 7:36 am

wlu_lax6 wrote: ↑Tue May 12, 2020 6:27 am
A_B wrote: ↑Mon May 11, 2020 8:37 pm
Rams Fanny wrote: ↑Mon May 11, 2020 7:56 pm I am at a complete loss as to why the Bundesliga (and KBO for that matter) is scheduling 5 games together and not staggering them 2-2.5hrs apart. They have no fans to worry about and this is mostly for TV. Seems to me this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to market all teams to a captive worldwide audience.
I imagine it’s because they are on an accelerated schedule to get as many games in as possible.
Because it is still a competitive race at the top and bottom? Figure with the compressed schedule they want equal rest for each team. Trying to keep the games somewhat equal on the sporting level.

I don't think any league really cares about that, to be honest.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Wed May 13, 2020 7:31 am

Sports Wars Podcast is doing a series of the impact of the Spanish Flu on Sports. Babe Ruth, Dempsey, and Stanley Cup (Mets v. Canadians). Very interesting.
https://wondery.com/shows/sports-wars/

Post by **brian** » Wed May 13, 2020 11:32 am

Haven't seen any other conferences do this, but it's likely some will follow, but the Mid-American Conference announced it's eliminating the postseason tournament in eight sports for the next several years for financial reasons.