American leagues bouncing back one year on

NEW YORK • One year after Covid-19 sent sport across North America grinding to a halt, professional leagues and tours are inching back towards normalcy after absorbing a multi-billion-dollar financial hit.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has reached the halfway point of its abbreviated 2020-2021 season after losing an estimated US$1.2 billion (S$1.6 billion) through its interrupted 2019-2020 campaign, with a US$4 billion loss projected for this term.

But NBA commissioner Adam Silver is hopeful that the worst may be over, noting that next season may resemble something like a return to normality as more Americans get vaccinated against Covid-19 and fans return to arenas.

"I'm fairly optimistic at this point that we will be able to start on time," he said last week.

"If vaccines continue on the pace they are, and they continue to be as effective as they have been against the virus and its variants, we're hopeful that we'll have relatively full arenas next season."

Silver added that despite losses he described as "considerable", the "long-term health of the league is very solid".

Major League Baseball (MLB), meanwhile, is also counting the costs of the coronavirus. The league slashed its 2020 season from 162 games to 60, finally starting in late July before wrapping the World Series in October.

Although fans were allowed to return for the late stages of last year's play-offs, regular season games last year took place in empty arenas, denying clubs game-day revenue and contributing to collective losses estimated by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred at around US$3 billion.

A full 162-game regular season is planned when the new campaign gets under way on April 1, but spectator access will vary depending on city and state health regulations where each team is based.

World Series champions Los Angeles Dodgers will be allowed only a maximum of 100 fans at Dodger Stadium under current rules, while the St Louis Cardinals have been approved to allow 14,500 spectators.

Major League Soccer (MLS) is bracing for another hefty financial loss after taking a US$1 billion hit last year.

"When you don't have fans for the majority of your season, it's just pure math," MLS commissioner Don Garber said last month.

As for the National Football League (NFL), commissioner Roger Goodell admits it is unclear what fan attendance may look like when the latest season starts in September.

"One of the things that I think I have learnt and all of us have learnt is try not to project too far in advance because it's difficult to do," he said. "I know this: We've learnt to operate in a very difficult environment. We have found solutions, and we'll do it again."

The pandemic has changed other aspects of the US sporting landscape in more profound ways.

In almost every major sport, television ratings were down sharply.

The NBA Finals ratings nosedived by 51 per cent, while the battle for ice hockey's Stanley Cup cratered by 61 per cent. Tennis' US Open slumped by 45 per cent and even last month's NFL Super Bowl drew its lowest audience since 2006.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE