The CDC Recommends No Gatherings with 50 or More People for Two Months, How Does This Impact the Major Sports Leagues?

With people questioning what to do with things changing day-by-day due to the cornonavirus, the CDC came out Sunday with a recommendation stating they don't want mass gatherings with 50 or more people for eight weeks, putting just about all major sports leagues on hold until the recommendation is lifted.

While everyone in Major League Baseball as well as all the pro sports leagues in the United States continue to ask ‘what’s next,’ there’s a new recommendation that could put leagues on the shelf until mid to late May.

The New York Times reported Sunday evening that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are recommending that “no mass gatherings with 50 people or more be held in the U.S. for the next 8 weeks because of the coronavirus.”

Unless at some point games start to be played in front of empty stadiums and arenas, that may shut down Major League Baseball, the NBA and NHL all the way till the middle of May if you use today, March 15, as a guideline.

The C.D.C. said that its recommendation, which would dramatically change life in the United States for the next two months, does not apply to “the day to day operation of organizations such as schools, institutes of higher learning, or businesses” and added that it was not intended to supersede the advice of local health officials.

“This recommendation is made in an attempt to reduce introduction of the virus into new communities,” it said, “and to slow the spread of infection in communities already affected by the virus.”

Of course no decision has come down yet about the NBA and NHL in terms of restarting their seasons, but both leagues for now are on hold to resume play.

The NBA has imposed a 30-day work stoppage before they reassess the situation, and the NHL has halted games ‘until further notice,’ but both leagues said they do intend to get back to playing games, and there will be a postseason for both leagues.

Friday word came down that both Major and Minor league baseball players were being allowed to leave their spring training sites to return home.

Ex-Indian Trevor Bauer made the most of games being paused on Saturday as he and a number of other Major League players, including current Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger and outfielder Oscar Mercado, put on a “sandlot” pickup game for charity.

The proceeds from the game, which was shown live on Bauer’s enterprise, “Watch Momentum,” will be donated to MLB gameday staff, who basically have no job to go back to for now while no games are being played.

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