from Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News,
Jonathan Becher, president of Sharks Sports & Entertainment, said the decision to play NHL games at SAP Center earlier this month after local health officials urged a moratorium on large public gatherings came after he called executives from other Bay Area sports teams and the league consulted with its own health experts.
“Most professional sports franchises, including us in the NHL, don’t have the ability to call off games by themselves,” Becher said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters. “That typically comes from the league that they participate in.”
The Sharks played three games — all before thousands of fans — after the Santa Clara County Public Health Department on March 5 recommended all public gatherings of over 1,000 people be canceled or postponed due to growing concerns about the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
“The first question was, is this a mandate? Can you play? And we said, ‘Yes, we can, and if we play, we have to make these following recommendations,'” Becher said. “(The NHL) said, ‘OK we’d like to consult with our health authorities as well.’ (We) go back and forth and ultimately, we made the decision to play.”
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