Take Me Out To The Televised Ballgame, Take Me Out To the Couch.
While COVID-19 has postponed, delayed, and even cancelled the sports we love, it’s not the first time it has happened. Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, Soccer, The Olympics – it’s been a bad year for spectators. The good news is that these things have happened before, and we can get through this together.
The MLB has had a work stoppage eight different times, but only three resulted in missing games. The worst took place in 1994 where the players walked out and the season was cancelled. The NBA has had four different lockouts, the worst in 1995 which lasted for three months. The NFL has had six work stoppages throughout its history, and most recently a 136-day lockout in 2011.
Internationally, the Olympics have only been cancelled three times in the past: 1916, 1940, and 1944. Each of these cancellations was due to World War I & II respectively. The World Cup was also cancelled in 1942 and 1946 due to WWII.
How do we manage? The good news is that auto racing, golf, soccer, baseball, football, basketball, and hockey should play this year. While fans will likely be unable to spectate in person, television and radio will likely cover most events. This will include historically less covered sports on major television channels.
In addition, E-sports (video games) have grown as a spectator sport, as well as niche games. ESPN will continue to show Madden and Overwatch E-sports, and Cornhole championships on the weekends. Many of your favorite sporting channels will also continue to replay ‘Best Of’ games.
If you are looking for what to watch on TV, please use the link to help guide your viewing:
https://www.tvguide.com/sports/live-today/
Dave Rohlfing, Senior Technical Solutions Coordinator
