Salaries are TIED to attendance in MANY pro contracts. MLB players are ALREADY posturing about "the SAFETY of returning", about "having BLOOD drawn for daily COVID-19 testing", the "OPTICS of testing" (when there aren't enough for the public), keeping "athletes quarantined from family, friends, relatives", restricting travel & playing in ONE regional area of the country, etc.. & while being ASKED TO DO THIS for LESS MONEY!!!...& that's just BASEBALL (which leads many insiders to believe a return isn't conceivable to EVEN seriously CONSIDER until July, in most cases).
So, let the negotiations begin. But NOT A SINGLE GAME will be played until athletes keep AS MUCH OF THEIR GUARANTEED MONEY as possible & there is a FIGHT to be FOUGHT HERE first. Every other sport will have to do likewise, & support-staff unions will ALSO have a say.
Sports, whether IN empty STADIUMS or NOT, are NOT LIKELY to return here soon. Korea has a company pumping out 200,000 COVID tests-a-day & they have MORE THAN THEY NEED to continually TEST their population. The U.S. has ~350 MILLION people & they can't even put forth enough testing-protocols to allow non-essential folks to go to work to feed their families.
THERE'S NO MONEY!! Gamblers notwithstanding, NEED MONEY to GAMBLE. The economy is NOT where it was PRE-Covid,....& won't return for another 18-20months or so. DEAC will have to DILUTE SHAREHOLDERS BIGGLY, & won't see their revenues normalize until ALL SPORTS are back ONLINE, EVERYONE is BACK at work, & it's business as normal. How LONG will it take for THAT TO HAPPEN? That's the question. Just because one or three sports are back, isn't enough. Gamblers have to MAKE MONEY to spend it!! And to do that they have to GO TO WORK. Sports being back is GREAT ....Whenever that happens. But it's just ONE PIECE of the puzzle...
And, BTW...ALL MAJOR sports franchises are seeking to CLAIM a portion of this GAMBLING business by creating their OWN. They have discussed UNIFYING & DIVVYING up proceeds. This is what other competitors are trying to RACE against by ESTABLISHING themselves. But, just like many BASEBALL teams created THEIR OWN TV-Networks, they are looking at taking a stake in the GAMBLING MARKET as well. From the NFL, to MLB, NBA, etc... & they have the political-connections to THWART the competition & get legalization through too!
