In July and August, American sports will come to life.
As with the rest of the world, sports in the United States and Canada came to a halt in March due to the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The first cases of the disease appeared in the leagues and the officials had no options at all, except for the suspension of the competition.
Since then, the coronavirus has become a serious problem in the United States. The daily increase in new cases by 20-30 thousand patients quickly brought the United States into an unpleasant leadership in the incidence of a new virus in the world.
Nevertheless, in the last almost two months, the situation has been relatively brought under control – compared to the peak daily increase in new cases (39 thousand) on April 24, now the statistics on new cases are twice as good (about 20 thousand new cases per day), although the growth is still equally significant, and the number of active cases is over one million.
But, apparently, the panic from the unknown, into which the world plunged at the start of the pandemic, is subsiding. There is already an idea about the symptoms, the course of diseases and methods of containment and treatment. Although there is no approved vaccine yet, it is clear what rules should be followed to minimize the risk of getting sick with coronavirus.
Based on this, the world began to come to its senses. And the US and Canada as well. As early as May, state governors began to ease quarantine measures in various ways in order to stop a significant decline in the economy and soaring unemployment.
Florida made an interesting decision. There, Governor Ron DeSantis back in April approved the holding of sporting events without spectators in the state as a necessary business that can operate during the epidemic. Thanks to this exception, among other things, for the third month now, Orlando continues to film the WWE wrestling promotion show (or rather, because of their activities, everything had to be justified).
In May, the leading sports organizations began to discuss the possibility of playing out or starting the seasons late in their leagues. It goes without saying that no one considered the option of returning matches with spectators in the stands. Here it would be easy to finish the game and decide everything according to the sports principle in order to avoid demarches and lawsuits.
For weeks, owners, managers, officials, players and coaches exchanged comments and suggestions on how best to organize everything and finish the game.
At the end of May, another event had a chance to significantly adjust plans – the murder of black George Floyd by a policeman, which launched a wave of protests and riots. However, the situation does not seem to have significantly affected the approved schedules for the resumption of competitions, and apart from a certain tribute to the protests before the games, this situation will not change anything. In the end, the scale of the protests is not so huge, and the fights themselves will be held in a conditional “bubble”, on the same territory and without spectators in the stands (the exception is Major League Baseball, where they will play at the teams’ home stadiums).
Next, we invite you to familiarize yourself with the approved or already partially agreed plans for the resumption of competition in the four major US sports leagues – the NBA (basketball), NHL (hockey), MLS (football / soccer) and MLB (baseball).
Situation: regular season ended. The season will finish with 22 teams in Orlando (Florida), in the Disney World amusement park.
Key dates: July 7 – arrival of teams in Florida, 9th – start of training camp, July 31 – start of matches for the right to play in the playoffs, August 17 – start of the playoffs, September 30 – start of the final series, completion of the final – no later than 12 October.
Medical measures: players will be regularly tested for coronavirus (probably daily, but not specified). If a player tests positive, they are tested again to ensure that the test was not a false positive. If confirmed, the player will be isolated for a minimum of two weeks. Before returning to training, basketball players will have to undergo cardio tests.
Teams can designate at-risk players and allow them not to come to training camp with the payment of full salaries to these basketball players. A medical panel of three doctors will also examine the medical history of some players, and if they are found to be at risk, they will also be allowed not to return to the resumption of the season with pay.
If a player, whose participation in the process is approved by the medical commission, refuses to come, he will be deprived of more than 1% of his salary for each unplayed match.
Format: 22 teams will play in the tournament – 16 teams from the playoff zone + 6 teams from outside the postseason zone (5 from the West, 1 from the East).
Each team will play 8 games in Orlando to determine playoff seeding. New Orleans, Portland, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio, and Washington DC are clubs outside the playoff zone at the time of the season’s suspension and will play in the final phase of the season.
If, as a result of these 8 matches, the team in ninth place in the table falls behind the eighth position by less than 4 wins, a mini-tournament between the two teams for two matches will be held to determine the last holder of a ticket to the playoffs. The team from 9th place is eliminated with the first loss, the team from 8th – with two losses.
Then they play according to the usual scheme of the NBA playoffs, with a series of up to four victories of one team in each of the pairs (a maximum of seven matches in each pair).
Situation: regular season ended. The top 12 teams in the Western and Eastern Conferences were determined based on the percentage of points scored at the time the season was stopped.
The resumption of full-fledged training from July 10, the resumption of the season – in early August in two cities. On June 8, training in small groups at the team bases has already begun.
Location: not yet defined. Matches are expected to be held in one city for each conference. Challengers: Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Vancouver.
Medical measures: players will be tested daily. The infected person will be isolated and those who came into contact with him will be monitored. No quarantine for the whole team.
Format: 24 teams participate. Eight Stanley Cup qualifying round matches (16 teams) + group tournaments between the top four teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences (8 teams) to determine the seeding in the first round of the playoffs.
Up to three victories of one of the teams (maximum 5 matches) are played in the qualifying round.
Directly in the playoffs, they play according to the previous format – up to four victories of one of the teams (maximum 7 teams). After each round there will be a new selection of seeded teams.
Pairs of the qualification round in the East:
- Pittsburgh (40-23-6, 86 points) – Montreal (31-31-9, 71 points)
- Carolina (38-25-5, 81 points) – New York Rangers (37-28-5, 79 points)
- New York Islanders (35-23-10, 80 points) – Florida (35-26-8, 78 points)
- Toronto (36-25-9, 81 points) – Columbus (33-22-15, 81 points)
Participants of the group tournament in the East:
Boston (44-14-12, 100 points), Tampa Bay (43-21-6, 92 points), Washington (41-20-8, 90 points), Philadelphia (41-21-7, 89 points)
Pairs of the qualifying round in the West:
- Edmonton (37-25-9, 83 points) – Chicago (32-30-8, 72 points)
- Nashville (35-26-8, 78 points) – Arizona (33-29-8, 74 points)
- Vancouver (36-27-6, 78 points) – Minnesota (35-27-7, 77 points)
- Calgary Flames (36-27-7, 79 points) vs. Winnipeg (37-28-6, 80 points)
Participants of the group tournament in the West:
St. Louis (42-19-10, 94 points), Colorado (42-20-8, 92 points), Vegas (39-24-8, 86 points), Dallas (37-24-8, 82 points)
Situation: Before the suspension of the season, all 26 teams played two matches each. The resumption of the championship in the format of a mini-tournament according to the world championship scheme called “MLS is Back” will be held from July 8 to August 11.
Location: ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney World near Orlando (in the same location as the NBA).
Medical events: before and during the tournament, players, coaches, referees and staff will be tested for coronavirus. Protective masks are used outside the football field and social distancing is maintained. Players and staff at risk will not be allowed to enter the tournament without medical approval. If someone tests positive for COVID-19, they will be sent to isolation.
Format: 54 matches will be played in 26 days. 26 teams will be divided into 6 groups based on conference affiliation. There will be five teams in one group and four in the others. Each team will play three matches in the group. The top two teams from each group + the top four third place teams will advance to the playoffs.
Each playoff stage consists of one match for each pair. In the event of a draw, the teams will go to a penalty shoot-out, without extra time. The winner of the tournament must qualify for the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League.
Teams are allowed up to 12 substitutes instead of the usual seven. You can make five substitutions in three time slots in the game, the break does not count.
After the completion of this mini-tournament, the regular season will resume with a calendar adjustment, and the playoffs of the MLS Cup will also be held.
Situation: The start of the season was scheduled for the end of March, but was postponed at the stage of pre-season training due to the outbreak of coronavirus
The format for the resumption of the season has not yet been agreed. The league and the baseball players’ union are discussing a different number of games for each team and have yet to agree on a number.
The league’s latest proposal, with 60 games per team, was deemed too short by the Baseball Players Union. The union’s response was a 70-game season and an extended playoff with 16 teams for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
If the parties do not agree, the League has the right to unilaterally approve the details of the format of the season, which in this case will have about 50 games for each team.
So far, it is clear that the matches will be held at the home arenas of the teams and with empty stands.
In terms of medical protocol, there are no significant differences compared to other American leagues: maintaining social distance, regular testing (several times a week) of players, coaches and staff, taking temperature and sending people with suspicious symptoms for additional examination, isolating people with positive test results on COVID-19, disinfection of premises in case of patients with coronavirus, determination of the circle of close contacts of the infected for their testing.
Source: Sportarena
