from Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press,

While TV revenues dominate big time games, ticket sales still account for around 37% of the NHL’s money, 30% in baseball, 22% in NBA basketball, and 15% in the NFL. The figures vary year to year, but it’s a significant chunk of the pie.

Would owners want to operate under such reduced intake (remember, no stadium merchandise sales either), or would they rather shut down operations and use a force majeure clause not to pay the players? Some leagues have already reduced payroll by a certain percentage, in hopes they can salvage part of the season. But what if no season is better than a fanless one?

Let’s say, for discussion purposes, they plow ahead. Let’s play ball! OK. How do they pull it off?

Even if you have players in empty venues, they still have to get there (airplanes), stay somewhere (hotels) and interact with a minimal number of non-teammates (equipment men, trainers, stadium personnel).

If these players are coming back and forth from home, they are transporting whatever germs they might be exposed to with them. As soon as one player tests positive for COVID-19, can a team, in good conscience, continue playing? Or does it shut down, as the Utah Jazz’s Rudy Gobert’s positive test shut down his team and quickly the league?

Let’s face it. Even without fans, you have players tackling, checking, and generally sweating all over one another. The only way disease doesn’t get spread under those conditions is if you have a controlled environment.

Which means locking the players in somewhere.

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