MIAMI _ Whenever sporting events return to Miami amid the COVID-19 pandemic, don't expect full or close-to-full stadiums and arenas. Not in the near future, and maybe not even for the rest of the calendar year barring the development of an effective antiviral drug or vaccine, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez told the Miami Herald.
"Knowing what we know today and not what we may know tomorrow, I don't see that being real realistic," Gimenez said Wednesday when asked about that possibility. "I see empty stadiums or I see sparse stadiums, let's put it that way. Because there is no antiviral and there is no vaccine. So as long as that's the case, and then if we think the virus is as deadly and also we think the virus is as communicable as we do right now, it's going to be very hard to do that."
The Miami Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes football team play their home games in Miami Gardens at Hard Rock Stadium, which has a capacity of 65,000. The Miami Heat plays its home games in downtown Miami at AmericanAirlines Arena, which has a capacity of 21,000. And the Miami Marlins play their home games in Little Havana at Marlins Park, which has a capacity of 36,000.
At what capacity does Gimenez envision Miami-Dade stadiums and arenas operating at later this year?
"It's too early," Gimenez said. "Again, a lot of it has to do with social distancing and wearing a mask and entrances and the ability of people to keep away from each other. So, again, I'm open to listening and going through it and then working with our doctors to see that we minimize the risk as much as possible. Again, you'll never get to a zero-risk game where there's no risk at all. But can you manage the risk? Is it an activity that's safe to do and managing that risk."
Gimenez did reveal that he wants to write a new order that will allow for professional sports teams that operate in Miami-Dade to begin working out.
"They need to give me what their plans are, and then we can sign off on it," he said. "I think that's the process that we're going to follow."
Here's a look at where the four big teams in Miami-Dade stand, while noting that the Florida Panthers play their home games at BB&T Center in Sunrise and Inter Miami's home stadium is in Fort Lauderdale ...
_ The Dolphins are preparing for the worst-case scenarios of having games with no fans or limited capacity at Hard Rock Stadium if the ongoing health crisis makes that necessary, a league source said Monday.
The Dolphins also are preparing for the possibility of having a full stadium this fall, which would be the NFL's preference if the coronavirus pandemic should allow that.
Gimenez said he has had brief conversations with Dolphins officials on the potential for holding events at Hard Rock Stadium.
"That depends on what their plans are," Gimenez said. "The Hard Rock is an outdoor venue, which is different than the AAA, which is an indoor venue. The indoor venue is going to be tougher. But it's still going to be very tough for an outdoor venue."
Gimenez described his conversations with the Dolphins as "very limited" and "nothing concrete."
The idea of playing Dolphins games with 15,000 fans instead of the usual 65,000 is one of several possibilities the team has discussed, but a decision is a long way off.
The Dolphins indicated that decisions on how many fans will be permitted inside Hard Rock Stadium, or whether any fans would be permitted, will be "driven by government guidelines and NFL rules."
_ The NBA is targeting Friday as a potential date to reopen team practice facilities for individual workouts in cities and states where local governments have loosened stay-at-home orders amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But the Heat does not plan to allow players to start working out at AmericanAirlines Arena until Monday at the earliest, a league source said Tuesday.
Gimenez said he spoke with Eric Woolworth, the Heat's president of business operations, on Wednesday morning about the organization's plan to reopen the practice facility to players.
"He kind of went through what the NBA and what they were thinking about," Gimenez said. "Everything that he said seemed very reasonable. So I foresee no big issue in allowing them to go ahead and open. Certainly, we want to do that and make sure it's safe. I think the steps they're taking are very reasonable. I don't foresee a problem."
The NBA's reopening of arena facilities will come with strict restrictions, including no more than four players in the arena at any one time, each working only in individual sessions and participants encouraged to social distance at least 12 feet apart at all times.
While the NBA might allow practice facilities to reopen on Friday, it's still unknown whether the remainder of the 2019-20 NBA season will be played. The current NBA season was suspended on March 11, and all NBA facilities have been closed to players and staff since March 20.
As for hosting concerts, games and other events at AmericanAirlines Arena with crowds, Gimenez said "that's a ways away."
"First thing is first and then we'll work on those things," he said. "Concerts and all, those are large events, and I don't see large events happening here for a while unless we get some kind of an antiviral, where if you catch it that this will cure you or some kind of a vaccine."
_ University of Miami athletic director Blake James told ESPN's Paul Finebaum that the Hurricanes are preparing for all scenarios.
"There'll be some people that will not be comfortable going into a stadium for some time, but there will be people that want to get back out (and enjoy) college football, college sports, that camaraderie of the community around their team," James said. "We'll follow the lead of government officials and our leadership on campus on doing what we have to do to create the right environment from a safety (standpoint) ... If we don't have fans in the stands that'll be the way it'll be."
Gimenez said he has not yet spoken to UM officials on how the pandemic will impact its sports. When it comes to Hurricanes football _ just like professional football _ Gimenez said holding games and practices could get complicated.
"These are about 100 people that are playing a contact sport. So how do you safeguard that?" Gimenez said. "We don't allow contact sports in our parks. But again, the parks are for millions of people, not for a limited number of people. It's up to what their rules are, how are they going to safeguard their players. If it's something that we feel that it's safe _ look, nothing is ever 100% safe. But if it's a safe activity for a limited number of people to be participating in and there are safeguards before and after to limit any exposure, then again we're more than willing to have those conversations and hopefully we can make it happen."
UM president Julio Frenk recently told WQAM's Marc Hochman and Channing Crowder that he could see a scenario where football games are held without fans for a portion of the season, but it's too early to know with any certainty.
_ The Marlins haven't commented on the possibility of games without fans, and Major League Baseball reportedly is considering several scenarios, including having games in one location (perhaps Arizona or Florida) or allowing teams to play games at their home ballpark but without fans in attendance.
Gimenez said he has not yet spoken to Marlins officials on what steps will need to be taken to hold games at Marlins Park.
"I'll probably reach out to the Marlins and see what they're going to be doing or what Major League Baseball is going to do and what they're thinking about," Gimenez said. "Again, reaching out and saying that we're willing to work with them."
