Dr. Anthony Fauci is the infectious disease expert that is part of the White House’s task force to fight the coronavirus. Major League Baseball is one of several sports that has begun to plot a return in 2020, but Fauci has bad news for team sports.
“Safety, for the players and for the fans, trumps everything,” Fauci told the New York Times. “If you can’t guarantee safety, then, unfortunately, you’re going to have to bite the bullet and say, ‘We may have to go without this sport for this season.’”
Earlier, Fauci has said that there is a way for sports to return, but that would include players staying in hotels and games being played without fans. The PGA has a plan, but golf is a sport that might be able to play without spectators during this pandemic. Fauci is admitting that he would love for sports to come back, but also predicts it could be too difficult right now.
“I would love to be able to have all sports back,” Fauci told the Times. “But as a health official and a physician and a scientist, I have to say, right now, when you look at the country, we’re not ready for that yet.”
The Company Helping Leagues Return
If sports can make a comeback of some sort this year, they may be forced to play in a different season than they are used to. There is a company that is assisting leagues and teams in determining if the weather conditions would still be acceptable for play.
ClimaCell has been helping companies such as JetBlue, Ford, and Uber using weather data. Their founder, Shimon Elkabetz, describes the company as the “SpaceX of weather.”
“There are several elements at play in respect to how weather impacts sports in general, including athlete performance, spectator safety, and commerce,” said Elkabetz.
The Factor Of Weather
The weather can affect a lot of aspects of sports. For example, a baseball game with more weather-related starts and stops can change the atmosphere of the game. If NASCAR happened with more rain or even snow, the product fans see on the track is going to be different than normal.
Elkabetz said, “Having fans makes the notion of restarting more complex because if you want to play a truncated schedule, it’s almost impossible when add fans into the mix. If, for example, you have a tennis match or a baseball game with a lot of weather-related starts and stops, the idea of resuming a game or match already in progress becomes a lot more complicated with fans.”
She has admitted that this is a tough situation. Trying to figure out what is possible and what is not is a difficult task. But this shows that there are more variables to resuming play than just the safety from the coronavirus.
There are weather factors in play, as well as the potential to harm the following season. These leagues are going to have to decide if the product they are going to be able to show is worth the risk.