By Carter Stokes

When the coronavirus became a prevalent issue in the United States as we marched into the new decade, the NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA were all forced to suspend operations in order to preserve both player and fan health. Now attempting to return to normal, these massive corporations are in uncharted territory, with billions of dollars on the line.

After hosting a successful fully-virtual draft, the NFL is currently on track to play what is now the full 17-game season this fall, yet without any official word on attendance from league commissioner Roger Goodell. However, Goodell has recently decided to cancel the NFL’s usual regular-season stops in London and Mexico City. NFL executive vice president and chief strategy and growth officer Christopher Halpin recently released a statement on the matter, saying, “After considerable analysis, we believe the decision to play all our games domestically this season is the right one for our players, our clubs, and all our fans in the US, Mexico, and the UK.”  The league is set to release the regular-season schedule, with games beginning on September 10, with the Super Bowl scheduled for February 7, 2021, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. Despite being conscientious of the ongoing pandemic, the NFL has taken a steadfast approach towards a return to normalcy, including on-schedule training camp and preseason protocol.

As for Major League Baseball, they currently have no official plan for how or when they will approach beginning the 2020 season that was supposed to start on March 26. However, the most favorable route at the moment seems to be what some have labeled as the “Arizona Plan.” Per Matt Snyder of CBS Sports and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the “Arizona Plan” would involve “all 30 teams in the Phoenix area, quarantined in hotels and playing their games in the 10 spring training ballparks and presumably Chase Field.” Snyder also goes on to state that “there are some backfields where minor-league spring training games are played that could be used as well. This plan comes with no fans, so playing on those fields wouldn’t matter. This plan would also include weekly testing for COVID-19 and quarantining positive testing cases.”

Essentially, the “Arizona Plan” is competitive baseball with all 30 teams that takes place in the same setting as the American League’s Cactus League spring training activities. As opposed to the NFL, the MLB is much more relaxed in their approach to returning to baseball, without any official plans given out from Commissioner Rob Manfred at this time.

The National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) are two leagues that are currently focused on completing their respective seasons, as opposed to the NFL and MLB, who had not yet begun their seasons. The NHL was only
weeks away from the final day of its regular season, April 4, when the league was shut down on March 12. Right now, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has prioritized completing this season over beginning next season on time, which usually begins in early October. Similar to the MLB, the NHL has no official return plan at the moment, but they do have a frontrunning plan that is likely to be the direction the league chooses to go in. Though it does not have a catchy name like the “Arizona Plan,” Bettman’s plan is to select four arenas “anywhere that isn’t a hot spot,” where three games would be played per day. However, before any of this can happen, Bettman believes it is best for player health and safety if “at least three weeks of training camp before the season starts back up again.” While eager to finish the season, the NHL is taking an approach much like the MLB and does not feel the need to rush the end of the season, considering they have prioritized completing the 2019-2020 season before beginning the 2020-2021 season.

The NBA, compared to other leagues, “is ‘not close’ to formalizing a plan,” even though the league, like the NHL, is committed to completing the 2019-2020 season. Right now, Commissioner Adam Silver is still running through a plethora of hypothetical scenarios with his associates and team executives. Although Silver has not commented on the idea, many team executives are in favor of playing out the season through a neutral site tournament in Las Vegas. Even though Silver has not spoken out in favor of the plan, the NBA is a much more democratic league than the other four major North American professional sports leagues. This means that playing the tournament in Las Vegas could be more likely than it seems right now, especially if players were to speak out in favor of the plan once more specific aspects are proposed. As for now, NBA players like Portland Trail Blazers Guard CJ McCollum are tempering their expectations. McCollum says of the proposed Las Vegas plan that he “can’t say [he] would be happy with it or that I think it’s the right thing. I’d have to see how it’s structured. I think logistically, the NBA is in a position to experiment with many potential solutions.”

As for now, the only detail that has been proposed is the structure of the playoffs, which is a play-in tournament for the final playoff spots before going into a best-of-five first round. The two subsequent rounds would then be “winner-take-all games before a best-of-five Finals,” per Jabari Young of CNBC and Tyler Conway of Bleacher Report. The NBA is doing a smart thing by taking its time and weighing all options, but the executives across the league and team offices will have to be more assertive if they want to draw an end to the 2019-2020 season.

Whichever direction each of these fours leagues decide to go in with regards to coronavirus, they must be sure of the decision they are making, as millions of lives and billions of dollars hang in the balance.