”HEY! WHERE IS EVERYBODY?”
The Mets are used to drawing 2.5 million fans annually.
But now the Corona virus has arrived and set everything topsy turvy.
All you hear about in NY is people getting sick by the tens of thousands, dying, sheltering in place, and social distancing.
Living in Suffolk County, I went out in my car around 5 PM yesterday - to my surprise, Sunrise Highway still seemed close to half the normal volume.
I am sure, with restaurants, theaters and gathering places closed, once rush hour passes, the roads get very, very quiet. Mostly health care workers heading home, patients heading to hospitals or testing sites.
It is hard for me to believe that the NY metro area will get its arms around this until June the earliest, in terms of life returning to any semblance of normalcy here.
The virus is likely still to be with us this summer, even if tamped down.
Baseball, like lots of businesses, is all about revenues, and revenues have to be destroyed no matter what for 2020.
Alternatives:
1) Season could be cancelled.
2) Season eventually starts, but with lots of social distancing.
3) Season returns to normal sometime in the summer.
#1 seems like a real possibility - but if the virus returns in 2021, what do you do? Kill 2 seasons in a row?
#3 seems unlikely - but I am not an epidemiologist. If this thing could spread so much in the space of 4 weeks in the U.S., I am puzzled as to how it suddenly becomes perfectly hunky dory to sit shoulder to shoulder with 35,000 fans.
#2 might be most likely - which could mean playing games with a maximum of 5,000 to 10,000 fans per game, to keep distance.
Perhaps there is a #4 - play games with no fans in the stands. Simplify things. TV revenues would have to carry the day.
Back in 1979, the Mets officially drew just 788,905 fans (source: Baseball Almanac), a far cry from recent years. But those 1981 attendance numbers will almost undoubtedly not be reached in 2020.
New and perilous times. Box seat tix? Nah. I’ll watch on TV, thanks.
Tom
ReplyDeleteEvery bone in my body tells me that this season, like so many other things in America, will be a wash this year.
Look at the bright side. This should put the last nail in Fred's baseball coffin.
Fred and Jeff should have sold while they had the chance. Too cute for their own good.
ReplyDeleteThe owners will convert tickets to games into prize-fight price levels. If you want to catch a virus and can afford thousands of dollars per ticket, then we will accommodate you.
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ReplyDeleteVaccine Night at Citifield? Would you like antibodies without your fries?
ReplyDeleteNothing is going to be etched in stone until the growth of this virus... this year... is put on hold until next year.
ReplyDeleteThen the recovery begins.
Soon after all teams will report back to ST.
Then opening day in the snow.
Mack, it is a total conundrum right now. I have felt for weeks this would be a very long process. When you consider there were almost no confirmed cases in the U.S. 6 weeks ago and despite efforts, there are already well over 100,000 confirmed US cases, the new normal will be what? I don’t know.
ReplyDeleteDr. fausi just estimated the total US deaths could pass 100,000.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Commish wants to play ball in June.
Correction on Dr. Fausi
ReplyDeletenow could be 100,000 to 200,000 USA DEATHS
Trump extended social distancing to April 30. Likely not the last extension.
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