Baseball’s Coronavirus Shutdown Presents Different Challenges For The Atlantic League & The LI Ducks

As he sat at home the night of Mar. 11 absorbing the news that Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert had tested positive for COVID-19 and the NBA season was suspended, Michael Pfaff suspected he was about to face unprecedented challenges in his job as the president and general manager of the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks.

He knew it a little more than 12 hours later, as he worked at his office and watched his alma mater, St. John’s, begin but not complete its Big East men’s basketball tournament game against Creighton.

“I was watching at home the night of the NBA game,” Pfaff said Thursday afternoon, referring to Jazz-Oklahoma City Thunder game that was postponed after Gobert tested positive. “It was very clear at that moment that this was much different than anything we’ve experienced previously. Being somebody who operates a facility that welcomes fans in — and understanding that they were in an NBA arena with over 10,000 fans present and they were literally about to start the game when they announced (the cancellation) and asked for people to please leave in an orderly fashion — I knew as an operator the seriousness of the situation that has to occur for you to make that decision.

“And if they are canceling the remainder of the game at halftime and the remainder of the Big East Tournament, this thing is bigger than what’s been anticipated and has now reached a much more serious level.”

The Atlantic League was officially impacted by the coronavirus on Mar. 16, when league president Rick White announced the 2020 season, scheduled to begin tonight, was indefinitely postponed. More than six weeks later, the Atlantic League, along with most professional sports in America, is still in limbo as society remains at a standstill due to the pandemic.

But the timetable to a potential 2020 return is more complicated for the Atlantic League, which, as an eight-team circuit unaffiliated with Major League Baseball, relies entirely on game-day revenues instead of lucrative television contracts. So while league executives will consider every available option for playing in 2020, conducting games in empty stadiums is the least likely possibility.

“What is the most feasible, what is the most financially viable (method), how do we go about doing this in a way where we’re not operating at a deficit?” Pfaff said. “In the minor leagues, whether it’s affiliated or independent, it’s my opinion that it’s not something that makes a lot of sense. One hundred percent of the revenue is derived from ticket sales, merchandise, sponsorships and concessions.”

The ramifications of a shortened or canceled season, and/or one played in parks that can’t be filled to capacity due to social distancing guidelines, mean the long-term discussions are far different within the Atlantic League than the four major North American pro sports, as well.

“I can only speak for the Ducks, I can’t speak for every team in the league, they’re all separate businesses,” said Pfaff, who said the Ducks secured a Payroll Protection Plan and have not had to layoff or furlough anyone. “As an entity, I can say that the Atlantic League, from the league president to the board of directors to team operators and owners, are 100 percent working towards having the start to the season. But we are also contingency planning in the event we do not. And all efforts are towards what we can best do to assure that our businesses are as successful as possible this year and for the future.”

The Atlantic League’s timetable may also be impacted by its proximity to the areas hardest hit by the coronavirus. Five of the league’s eight franchises are based in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania or Texas, which rank first, second, sixth and 10th in confirmed coronavirus cases, per data as of early this morning from the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

Long Island, where the Ducks have drawn more than eight million fans and won four championships since debuting in 2000, had 68,770 confirmed cases, per Newsday, as of 3 PM Wednesday afternoon — a higher figure than every state except New York and New Jersey.

“We need to know what the parameters and guidelines are for opening the ballpark to fans so that we can adapt and model our business to make sure that we adhere by those guidelines,” Pfaff said. “And that’s from governmental and health officials, whomever they delegate that to, ultimately. Whether it’s the governor saying (it or) in Suffolk County, it’s the Suffolk County Board of Health or it’s the County Executive or it’s the Department of Public Works, we need that clarity on who we’ll be receiving the information from and then exactly what the parameters of these new guidelines are that we have to adhere to. And then we’ll be able to adapt and follow them and get going.”

Pfaff, who has been balancing his Ducks tasks while helping his wife home school the couple’s three elementary school-aged children, said his default mood is one of optimism. He’s asked employees to work and prepare everyday like they will get notice the season can begin in two weeks. With 19 players, including nine with major league experience, already signed to deals, the Ducks will be able to fill out their roster — Atlantic League clubs usually carry 27 players — quickly if the league gets the go-ahead.

In the meantime, the Ducks, who were supposed to host the Lancaster Barnstormers in their opener Friday night, will host a virtual home opener that will include a re-airing of the 2019 opener — a 12-3 win over the York Revolution — on the team’s website, Facebook and YouTube pages. The Ducks will also offer 20 percent off purchases at their online merchandise store, host a social media contest in which fans can pose in their Ducks garb (the prize for one fan: a four-pack of tickets to the rescheduled Opening Day game as well as four 2019 replica championship rings) and offer personalized mobile device wallpapers to fans who reply to the team’s Twitter or Facebook accounts from 1-3 PM. 

It’ll be an Opening Day unlike any other. But Pfaff hopes the real thing for the Ducks and the Atlantic League — and baseball fans everywhere — isn’t far away.

“I think that we are going to be part of the healing when the doors open back up and people get back out and they go back to the places that they love,” Pfaff said. “It’s going to be going to places like our ballpark and doing things like going to Ducks games that are going to make people feel good again. And we’re just looking forward to being a part of that.”