What We Lose In A World Without Professional Sports

Normally, each night of April would be filled with sporting events. But these are anything but normal times. So what are we losing — economically, physically and culturally — in a world without professional sports?

Guests

Shira Springer, WBUR sports and society reporter. Contributing writer for the Boston Globe and SportsBusiness Journal. (@ShiraSpringer)

Bob Myers, general manager and president of basketball operations for the Golden State Warriors. (@warriors)

Molly Seidel, long distance runner. She placed second in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials on February 29th. The Olympics have been postponed. (@ByGollyMolly12)

From The Reading List

WBUR: “NBA Suspends Season After Player Tests Positive For Coronavirus” — “The NBA has suspended its season until further notice. The announcement cam last night, after a player on the Utah Jazz preliminarily tested positive for the coronavirus.”

New York Times: “Where the Major Sports Stand Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic” — “Nearly every sporting event, major and minor, has been canceled, moved or postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The question now, to which no one really knows the answer, is when games will come back.”

The Conversation: “A world without sports” — “Baseball’s opening day came and went. The Olympics have been postponed. Football in the fall? Don’t count on it. With COVID-19 infections and deaths rising each day, the cancellation of live sporting events might seem like an afterthought. But in the coming weeks and months, their absence will undoubtedly be felt.”

ESPN: “Coronavirus cancellations and reactions in sports” — “As COVID-19, a strain of the coronavirus, has spread around the globe in recent months, tournaments, games and other sporting events have been canceled, while others have been modified. The most recent big news? The European track and field championships have been canceled.”

Financial Times: “Can the sports industry survive the coronavirus shutdown?” — “Martin Slumbers usually works from a wood-panelled room overlooking the 18th green of the Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland. The chief executive of the R & A, golf’s governing body outside the US and Mexico, says his office was closed two weeks ago. The same goes for the ancient links, the first time this has happened since the second world war.”

This article was originally published on WBUR.org. [Copyright 2020 NPR]