by Djordje Plavsic
As many of us know, COVID-19 has been such a humongous impact on each sport this year. Many people were suited up to get ready for March of 2020 for a new baseball season to come with different players on different teams. Sadly, all fans this year had to wait almost 4 months for baseball to be starting, because of the virus. Opening day is something, all baseball fans should know which starts in March. This year in 2020, baseball started on July 23rd with no fans in the MLB stadium. With baseball that is a big sport worldwide, many of us come to think about it as if it will never start again because of the virus spreading around quickly.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, MLB was getting ready to start for their new season, but then revenue for the stadiums started to lose money if the MLB season weren’t to play.
With these MLB teams on the graph shown, the number right next to the blue bar gives a brief explanation of how much money, teams will be losing if baseball weren’t to be started. As the crisis of COVID-19 was happening around all world sports, many just like the MLB will lose money because of teams not playing at all. Imagine, just not watching 1 sports game and having no viewership of it on TV. It gives us an idea of how owners are feeling, because they’re the ones losing money since the top sports, (NBA,NFL,MLB) aren’t playing at all.
However, it left us as fans confused on how they will enjoy professional baseball without being able to attend the games in person.
While looking at this graph, you can compare the revenue breakdown of each sport. While looking at the MLB side of it, the broadcasting category in the (dark blue) is just right behind the NFL. Because of the revenue on the graph, we can see the impact of not allowing fans into games is such a huge key piece. Just like the NBA for example, we can come to figure out that no fans were allowed in the bubble, but although they still had a season and playoffs.
As we come to look at how the coronavirus impacts the MLB, it’s a huge impact in the game and into society. No matter how many fans or if we have even no fans in a game, I am delighted to say that at least we get to watch baseball again!! The comeback of the MLB with only, “60 Games” and a different formatted playoff series, I am happy to see the MLB’s comeback this year. Not only, is the MLB taking great precautions to make all the players,coaches, and staff safe. But they’re giving us as fans a better experience to watch the game as best as they can. Yes the economics of the MLB did appear not as well in the start, but the league has done a terrific job in my opinion to get it restarted and to not lose money.
Works Cited:
Sanchez, Omar. “The Impact of COVID-19 on Major League Baseball.” Daily Titan, 17 May 2020, dailytitan.com/sports/baseball/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-major-league-baseball/article_ba1c1721-069b-5c82-9817-6b27d4afb5fb.html.
Pleskoff, Bernie. “Pandemic Will Have Profound Impact On 2020 MLB Offseason.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 15 Oct. 2020,
Acquavella, Katherine. “MLB Opt-out Tracker: Full List of Players Who Have Opted out during COVID-19 Pandemic.”
CBSSports.com, 10 Aug. 2020,
After everything that's been going with COVID-19 it's surprising to see that fans and teams are still eager to get out there and play. At the start of this year we've seen a tremendous down-fall of how COVID has impacted the economy,jobs,people, etc. It's nice to see that everyone wants to get back to the normal but at this point what is the normal. Do you think one day we'll ever get back to being "normal?" If you had known in the beginning of the year that there was going to be a pandemic would you do anything differently?
ReplyDeleteObviously, COVID-19 has affected everyone. It has affected the players, fans, teams, and overall all economy. As it has been difficult for almost every professional sports league to start up again baseball seemed to take the longest. One thing that surprised me in your article was MLB is the sport behind the NFL for the largest revenue. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteI really liked the chart that you used in order to show the audience how much money the MLB lost. It is crazy to me how the NBA lost almost twice the amount of the MLB on broadcasting. Another thing that I think about when it comes to the MLB is how they have to get tested almost every day and stay in the same bubble until the season is over. That is something that I feel would be hard but is necessary to do if they want their season to happen. You did a really good job demonstrating how much money the MLB has lost this year. Good job!
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is very true that the coronavirus impacted MLB heavily, it impacted all businesses as well. Some businesses benefited while others suffered. For example, over 100,000 small businesses had to shut down, however, the toilet paper companies were thriving. In either case, the businesses had to work with what they were given which is what the MLB seemed to do according to your blog! The MLB offered fans to buy cardboard cutouts even! There were many upsets but it was great to see the persistence in some businesses to see what they could do with the adversity.
ReplyDeleteCOVID-19 has truly impacted just about every aspect of life. Not only have individuals been impacted, but also large groups of people such as MLB players and fans. I appreciated the use of the charts throughout your post, as it shows how COVID not only impacted the sport and the actual play of the game, but also the economical standpoint. I wonder if and when COVID-19 is not such an issue if the MLB and other large corperations will reach their financial peaks again.
ReplyDeleteIt’s crazy how much COVID-19 has negatively impacted, but it’s great to see how people are continuing to persevere and find ways to still be able to have entertainment. It’s unfortunate that the MLB started in poor financial conditions and that fans can’t sit in the stadium to watch them play, but it’s awesome that they have been able to carry on, even with difficulty, and that they are able to provide their fans with entertainment, even if it’s only through a TV screen.
ReplyDeleteSports are definitely one of the many things the COVID-19 has had a huge impact on, and I like that you chose to write about it and I like that you chose one specific sport that you like. It's sad to think that there might not be a season for any sport and it can be scary for those who are actually involved. For many that means lower pay or even no pay. The graphs you showed were really interesting because they showed the significance of COVID-19 in terms of finances. The second one is especially interesting because it shows how much of it comes from broadcasting. It's amazing how much of their income comes from broadcasting the games. Even though there will be (and has been) great losses from loss of crowds, hopefully the people watching through broadcasted games will make up for some of those losses.
ReplyDeleteIts crazy how covid-19 has affected not only businesesses but also sports. I really like how you use the different charts as this helped me understand how the virus has affected the game and financially. Hopefully everything will be able to comeback to normal and bring back the numbers. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteI think that we can all agree that Covid-19 has made many different aspects of our lives. I played softball over the summer and I felt that the rules and regulations were a lot more relaxed for an unprofessional summer league compared to the MLB. I like that you included a positive light in your article as well.
ReplyDeleteI think that the chart you chose describes the money loss by different sports in a very interesting way. Although it is interesting to see that the teams are losing a lot of money now, how do you think that companies will try to make up for this loss of money? For example, I know many teams were selling fan "cut-outs" so that the players could have some sense of a fan base behind them, do you think that helped with making some of their losses from the season back? In what ways will the loss be made up for in the future? Can it be done?
ReplyDelete