The 2020 Major League Baseball regular season is scheduled to begin on March 26th with Opening Day, but the growing threat of coronavirus across the country could force schedule changes, or potentially leave some teams playing in empty stadiums.
In several MLB markets, government officials have advised a ban on large gatherings of people, which has led MLB to reportedly consider moving games out of areas with a concentration of coronavirus cases.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, regular-season games could be held at spring training sites, or in cities without coronavirus outbreaks.
On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that Washington governor Jay Inslee plans to ban all gatherings of more than 250 people in the Seattle metro area, which would force the Mariners to either play elsewhere or play in an empty T-Mobile Park. As the virus continues to spread, it seems likely that other teams could soon deal with similar bans.
Also on Tuesday, Ohio governor Mike DeWine called for all sporting events held indoors to be staged without spectators – but not all venues are ready to comply with the governor’s wishes. Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland announced that it will continue to host events with fans, and that the arena will “continue to evaluate” the situation. The venue is set to host first and second round games in the NCAA tournament later this month.
