By: Jack Fenty

Today, the Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, tweeted some great news for fans who are begging for sports action to return this summer. If Governor Cuomo believes sports can be played in New York, that indicates sports can be played elsewhere in the United States. While there are many hoops to jump through, this tweet has provided encouragement that sports will be played at some point sooner rather than later. The question is, how will it get done and will there be games hosted in New York?

Before today, I did not see sports being played in New York as a realistic option for a LOOOONG TIME. Like not at least till October, at the earliest. And to be honest, I still don’t see it as a realistic option. Listen, if you are not from New York it is difficult to understand how hard hit the state has been hit with Covid-19. There have been around 350,000 cases and around 23,000 deaths from Covid-19 in the state. It’s now a place where wearing a mask and gloves is the new normal. While the number of cases and deaths has been decreasing gradually over the last few weeks, many parts of New York State, including New York City and Long Island, are still in “shelter-in-place” mode. Playing games in those areas still seems like a major reach at this point…

Are players going to want to travel to New York? Are players going to want to play against players from New York? Are teams going to want to stay in hotels in New York?

There are so many questions just like these to answer before leagues allow their players to play in New York.

The Good News

The good news is if the Governer of the hardest-hit area of the country is willing to have sports played in New York, we will likely see sports played SOMEWHERE in the United States this summer. This is how it will happen…

• No fans
• Limited travel
• Hotels designated for players only
• Temperature checks before games
• Masks when not on the field, court, ice
• Players on benches 6 feet apart with masks
• Constant changing/disinfecting of ball
• Only “essential” personnel can travel
• Limitations of media

You might read this list and think “Jack, are you crazy?” My answer would be if you want sports then this is what it is going to look like. So, sports will not be played in New York, but you can expect sports to be played at some point this summer!

Update

“I’m very agressive on encouraging sports teams to start and to operate without fans. This is more an economic calculus for different sports. Some sport franchises can make this work easier than others…To the extent they can start, I encourage them to start.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on May 19th