Stories Shaping Sports and Business: Tuesday, April 14
Hank Steinbrenner Dies at 63
New York Yankees co-owner Hank Steinbrenner passed away at his Florida home on Tuesday morning. Steinbrenner turned 63 years old two weeks ago on April 2.
According to sources close to the Steinbrenner family, his death was not related to the coronavirus and a statement from the Yankees indicated Steinbrenner passed away from a longstanding health issue.
Hank was the oldest of four siblings. His father George Steinbrenner purchased the Yankees in 1973.
XFL Files For Chapter 11
The second attempt by Vince McMahon to start an alternative professional football league has officially ended with the XFL filing for Chapter 11. The XFL was off to a great start when the season kicked off in late February, but the league is now shutting down for good after the coronavirus forced it to end its season prematurely.
Statement from the XFL regarding the decision to file for bankruptcy:
"Unfortunately, as a new enterprise, we were not insulated from the harsh economic impacts and uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 crisis”
The global pandemic forced the league to officially cancel its eight-game regular season in March, shortly after teams played their fifth game of the year.
McMahon originally launched the first iteration of the XFL in 2001, but it did not return for a second season. Last year, the Alliance of American Football launched, but also had to end its season prematurely and ultimately filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Coronavirus Update
There are over 1.9 million cases of the coronavirus worldwide. The U.S. has over 592,000 cases, Spain has over 172,000 cases and Italy has over 162,000 cases. The United States has the highest amount of deaths, with over 23,000 and Italy has over 20,000 deaths. Spain has 18,000.
The International Monetary Fund has issued a stark warning about the economic fallout from the coronavirus, saying that the global economy is facing its worse downturn since the Great Depression as the coronavirus pandemic shuts down factories and forces people around the globe to keep indoors.
The IMF projects that the global economy will contract by 3% in 2020, which is a shocking reversal from earlier this year, when the IMF projected that the global economy would actually outpace 2019 and grow by 3.3%. To put this in context, the global economy in 2008 and 2009 contracted by less than one percent.
