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| Andrew Harris runs the ball for the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers. |
It is that type of fear that is driving the sports world
right now in the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Teams, leagues and minor sports bodies fear the old cliché, “out
of sight, out of mind.”
A cliché becomes a cliché, because it is grounded in truth.
The teams, leagues and minor sports bodies don’t want to be forgotten.
There is a fear that if people stop interacting with their
favourite team, league or the minor sports body they are involved with, those
people will find other ways or focus on other interests to occupy their time
and forget about the sports world.
As a result, there are many inside these teams, league and
minor sports bodies who feel they need to find some way to play at all costs.
That line of thinking often results in pressure to throw
good money after bad money.
At the moment in North America, the big four professional
leagues have returned to play or are about to return to play in the NBA, NFL,
NHL and MLB. UFC and the NASCAR Cup Series have been motoring along since May.
The WNBA has also hit the court, and out in Germany, the pro
soccer Bundesliga completed its campaign in early July.
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| Most leagues in Canada have no where near the NHL’s resources. |
In the MLB, the Miami Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies are
still dealing with the after effects of being rocked by positive COVID-19
tests. Both clubs were last in action when they played each other in
Philadelphia this past Sunday and haven’t seen the field since.
There are fears the MLB season won’t be played to a
conclusion.
On the economic side, the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks gave a
written termination notice to 49 people working full time in business
operations. As it is unknown as to when the Canucks will host home games, they
couldn’t keep those employees on staff. That story came out in the Vancouver
Province on Thursday.
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| Will gate-driven circuits like the WHL find the conditions to play? |
The CEBL isn’t flush with cash, so Mike Morreale and that
circuit’s leaders deserve big credit for getting that circuit going. Still,
running a basketball league isn’t the same as getting a football league back in
action in Canada.
If the storied CFL takes the field in 2020, it will do so in
the bubble city of Winnipeg. That league is still facing numerous hurdles as
far as playing games go including getting players living in the COVID-19
ravaged United States into Canada and getting the CFL and CFL Players’
Association to come to terms on a deal to play this season.
The CFL is still seeking money from the Government of Canada
to take the field again and no results have occurred on that front. The CFL was
looking for $44-million to play this year and was seeking $150-million in
federal government assistance if the 2020 season is lost.
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| CFL great Charleston Hughes (#39) is focusing more on the working world. |
On the minor sports front, minor sport bodies are content to
get registration that reaches just 25 per cent of recent years in order to
spring into action. Still, those bodies are facing the reality of needing like
three years to recover economically from 2020.
Even with that in mind, people are thinking about you, if
you are out there playing.
No one knows what the future will be like for gate driven
leagues like the CHL major junior hockey circuit that includes the WHL, OHL and
QMJHL.
Same goes with junior A hockey that includes the SJHL or the
professional NLL circuit.
U Sports could look drastically different after the pandemic
as opposed to before the pandemic. That circuit won’t hold any national
championships in fall, and most of its conferences have shuttered fall
competition. The odds aren’t great action will resume in January of 2021.
The Government of Canada wouldn’t allow the MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays to play out of Toronto in front of no fans, so what are the odds that gate driven leagues will be able to operate with fans.
The Government of Canada wouldn’t allow the MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays to play out of Toronto in front of no fans, so what are the odds that gate driven leagues will be able to operate with fans.
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| Will U of Saskatchewan Huskies football be hurt by not playing in 2020? |
I have been thinking what my father, the late Dan Steinke,
would do when it comes to the business side of the sports world, because he had
his share of success in the business world.
I suspect he would treat the COVID-19 pandemic like the world
was in the grips of a world war.
Concluding that governments in Canada don’t have a will to
allow sports teams to play in front of mass gatherings of people and most
avenues to generate revenue have been significantly hurt, my late dad, if he
was the owner of a sports team, would likely layoff all the staff and cut
everything down to the point where he held just the intellectual property of
the team.
He would put the intellectual property of the team into storage ready for it to be brought back when the pandemic ends.
My dad would suggest owners of sports teams to follow that course of action, because he would see no value in continually throwing money into a black hole as the end date of the pandemic is uncertain.
He would put the intellectual property of the team into storage ready for it to be brought back when the pandemic ends.
My dad would suggest owners of sports teams to follow that course of action, because he would see no value in continually throwing money into a black hole as the end date of the pandemic is uncertain.
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| What will Makena Kushniruk and the Saskatoon Stars see in 2020-21? |
With that in mind, the leaders of teams, leagues and minor
sports bodies are working their hardest to figure out the best path in this
uncertain time. No one knows what the correct answer will be to get through
these pandemic days.
A bigger than major reboot for the sports world especially
in Canada might be unavoidable.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
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