It feels like Major League Baseball owners are just itching to start the 2020 season—fans or no fans.
No fans in attendance? I have a hard time with that, whether it’s baseball, football, basketball or professional wrestling. The roar of the crowd (or the groans) are what make live sports as exciting as they are. It’s hard to imagine Aaron Judge hitting a game-winning homer in the bottom of the ninth and no one there to cheer, but this is where we are now era of the coronavirus. It would certainly be unwise to fill a stadium with fans and eschew social distancing during a pandemic. Well, I guess they could always pipe in fan noise. The most important thing, in the eyes of MLB owners, is getting the season started by July. They have too much money to lose, and baseball owners hate to lose money. While ballpark attendance accounts for about 50 percent of MLB revenue, through ticket prices, concessions, corporate signage and souvenirs, television also stuffs the coffers. Owners don’t want to lose that revenue. They’ve got million-dollar ballplayer contracts to pay, as well as mortgages on their third vacation homes. For that reason, MLB will push ahead with a season while the vicious virus continues to plague the country with no signs of subsiding. There’s another factor as well. Attendance was down last season as games dragged on with too many strikeouts and not enough balls put into play. MLB doesn’t want fans to lose any more interest, which could happen by taking a full season off. I have mixed feelings about the return of baseball with no fans. It’s definitely the prudent approach, but seems kind of dull. Well, I guess any baseball is better than none.
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