Does Coronavirus Mean the End of Sports as We Know Them?

For decades, sports were a constant, part of the background noise of American culture, and maybe an unhealthy obsession. Games were always on. Radio always filled with banter. Twitter fights were had. (And enjoyed by many). There were office pools, side bets and serious gambling. Sports gave us something to talk about when the conversation slowed, something to watch when there was nothing else to do.

The outbreak of the Coronavirus, which as of April 19 has killed more than 161,000 people globally, has affected sporting events across the world.

A sports bar turns quiet, losing half of itself.

Times like these, as if there have been times like these, can demand the comfort of a bar and the wisdom of those who work there.

But these are serious times, even without the fear of becoming sick. Whole industries rely on sports. Forget the professional athletes or the leisure-seeking those who root for them.

The state of play: According to a new Morning Consult poll, 51% of fans think live sports will return between June and September, while only 8% think the void will bleed into 2021.

Many of those same fans are wary of how long it will take for them to feel comfortable attending those games, with 35% saying they'd need until at least October — and 22% saying they'd need until next year.

Each league has something different to say. The unanimous ruling however is that until testing increases and infection, along with death rates drastically decrease, leagues won't be working on much more than conjecture. If you're like me, you're going a bit stir crazy waiting for the sweet sound of an announcer back on my televistion. Dreaming of when I can start yelling at referees again

Major League Baseball sources state that they are deliberating on the following dates: Spring Training restarts June 15th with a season to begin without fans July 1st. Fans will then be allowed to return August 1st. There's also another crazy plan where all 30 teams would isolate themselves in Arizona and play fan-less games starting in May.

The National Hockey League has reportedly tossed around the idea of finishing the season and postseason in North Dakota.

Under a new proposed plan, the Professional Golfers' Association Championship will be held in early August, the U.S. Open will be held in mid-September and the Masters will now be held November 12–15th.

Dana White, President of the UFC has said that he's close to figuring a deal to stage fights on a private island. Fighters would arrive via private plane, with coronavirus tests happening before arriving.

Players like Danny Green in the NBA remain optimistic ("We're for sure gonna have a season, so all the things you see on the news, don't believe it"), while insiders like Brian Windhorst sing a different tune ("The pessimism is really growing"). Time will only tell however.

No official updates regarding Major League Soccer have been released since March 19th, when the suspension was extended to May 10th based on the CDC's ban of large gatherings.

Even the International Olympic Committee and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have concluded the Tokyo 2020 Olympics must be postponed.

The decision was made after holding out for weeks as local organisers and the IOC came under increasing pressure from athletes, national Olympic bodies and sports federations.

The event will now take place from July 23 to August 8, 2021.

There seems to be one bottom line regarding all of the sports. Whether your favorite league is offering a pessimistic or optimistic update, I recommend taking everything with approximately 6,500 grains of salt. In the immortal words of Ygritte: "We know nothing, Jon Snow."