Should Professional Sports Lead The Great American Economic Revival?

Face it.

Most Americans have not really missed commercial football, pro wrestling and mixed martial arts fighting during the pandemic.

It is estimated that, on average, 16.7 million viewers watch NFL games, a number that may benefit from the funny commercials and the glitzy halftime Super Bowl show. That’s a lot of people but it is a drop in the bucket with respect to America’s large and diverse population, which, according to the U.S. Census, totaled 331 million people as of April 1, 2020.

If there was a national poll about what industry should be top priority for jump starting the economy – professional sports or child care services – it seems highly likely that women, at least, would vote for child care.

Yet professional sports is clearly at the front of the pack.

President Trump

President Donald Trump is a sports fan who is “tired of watching baseball games that are 14 years old.”

Trump recently announced his appointments to his “Great American Economic Revival Industry Group. Sixteen prominent sports figures were named to the panel, including New England Patriots owner Robert K. Kraft, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Homes, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman, National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver, NASCAR board chairperson Lesa Kennedy, and World Wrestling Entertainment chairman Vince McMahon.

It seems obvious that team owners and highly-paid administrators want to reboot commercial sports A.S.A.P. because empty stadiums and the loss of television and licensing revenues are costing them a fortune. Like everyone else, they are hurting.

Governor DeSantis

Speaking of  Vince McMahon, the WWE is based in the Orlando, FL area and, until this week, was considered a non-essential business.

Wrestling is not like a hospital or grocery store, which Americans cannot do without in an emergency. Wrestling is a form of entertainment that violates the six-foot social distancing norm to avoid the spread of COVID-19 because it involves close contact and generates bodily fluids (sweat).

Yet, the mayor of Orange County, Florida, Jerry Demings, reversed WWE’s  non-exempt status and declared the WWE is an “essential business” and can continue to run live TV shows without fans.

According to the New York Times, the reversal occurred after “some conversation” between Demings and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis, a Republican, explained at a news conference that people are “champing at the bit” for new entertainment to boost morale while housebound.

The Players

Historically, sports leaders have not always been solicitous about the health and welfare of their players.

The NFL for years ignored the fact that football cause players to suffer chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive brain injury known for causing aggressive behavior. A study published in the medical journal JAMA found CTE was present in 99% of deceased NFL players’ brains that were donated to scientific research. There is an ongoing debate about whether parents who permit young children play contact sports are committing child abuse.

It seemed the NFL had learned its lesson when NFL Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Allen Sills, said two weeks ago the season won’t start until widespread testing is available for everyone. He observed that if one player tests positive for COVID-19, all of the people who were in contact with them will need to be quarantined.

Only about one percent of Americans have been tested to date.

ESPN reported that Trump, in a conference call with major league sports commissioners, said last week that he wants the NFL season to start on time in September.  Trump later told reporters, “I can’t tell you a date, but I think it’s going to be sooner rather than later.”

A lot of people will rejoice when entertainment venues reopen. Not just professional sports arenas but also restaurants, movie theaters, playhouses and symphony halls. People also are clamoring to go back to work and socialize with friends. But none of these things are happening for a reason.

America is in the throes of the worst health crisis in a hundred years.