COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus, has slightly changed our lives for the time being. With gatherings of more than 25 people banned in most countries around the globe, sports have been cancelled, with no clear timetable for a return. The only sports leagues currently going on are those in Belarus, a country whose president says that “football, saunas, and vodka” will cure COVID-19 and in South Korea, whose baseball league is broadcast too early for most Americans to watch.
With all these cancellations, leagues have nothing to broadcast and players have nothing to do. The majority of leagues have two ways they are keeping people entertained. First, they are organizing virtual tournaments and leagues on video games with real pro athletes competing. Second, they are re-showing classic games that are memorable in some way. Here are the things major sports leagues are doing during the pandemic.
MLB
MLB the Show Players League
The MLB the Show Players League is a 29-game league that works just like the regular MLB. Each team has one representative who is a player on the team. The best eight teams will move onto a knockout style tournament, with one player emerging victorious in a best-of-five World Series. The winner gets $25,000 dollars donated to the Boys and Girls Club in their team’s area, adding on to the $5,000 the MLB and the MLB Player’s Assocation already donated for each player.
The MLB sort of teased this idea a couple of weeks ago with a four-player tournament, with the winner being Amir Garrett. All games will streamed on the player’s Twitch, as well as on MLB.com with exclusive games on the MLB YouTube channel.
MLB Classic Games
The MLB has started to show famous games on their YouTube channel, mostly from the 1990s and 2000s. ESPN has also started to show classic baseball games and I’ve also been able to see classic Red Sox games on my local sports channel, NESN.
NFL
Madden NFL 20 Celebrity Tournament
A Madden Celebrity Tournament was competed by 14 celebrities and football players last week. Marquise Brown beat Snoop Dogg in the final 60-42 and subsequently won $25,000 for Feeding America.
NFL Classic Games
Like the MLB, the NFL has also posted famous games on their YouTube channel, both from the regular season and the postseason. ESPN has also started to show classic Monday Night Football games on Monday nights.
NBA
2K Player’s Tournament
The NBA were the first league to start a virtual sports tournament with players, which most major sports leagues have. The 16 players were ranked in order of the rankings on the game, which proved problematic as the number one seed, Kevin Durant, was knocked out in the first round. The final was contested by two Suns teammates, Deandre Ayton and Devin Booker, with the latter coming out on top.
NBA Classic Games
The NBA has also caught onto the trend of playing classic games on their YouTube channel. The games include the best from some teams as well as standout performances from the biggest players.
NHL
NHL Hat Trick Trivia
The coronavirus has treated the NHL differently as they’ve unleashed their own trivia game, hosted by P.K. Subban. The Devils defenceman asks three questions of huge NHL fans. If you get the first one right, you get a hat, the second one right, you get a jersey, and if you get the last, you get two tickets to any 2021 NHL regular season game. If you get any question wrong, you lose and your game ends. There are also sometimes surprise guests including actors, singers, chefs, referees and even the players themselves. Through four episodes, only nine people have gotten all three questions right.
NHL Retro Recap
You guessed it, the NHL has posted classic games on their YouTube channel. They post games every week or so. Like the other leagues, they’re some of the biggest games and moments in the league’s history, but instead they call it by a very cool name, Retro Recaps.
Premier League
ePremier League Invitational Tournament
The Premier League has already had one virtual tournament on FIFA20 and they are currently in the midst of another. The first one was won by Liverpool Defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, who came back from 2-0 to beat Man City’s Raheem Sterling 3-2 in the semifinal on golden goal. Each of the 20 teams has its own representative (either a player or a social media personality) and the teams battle it out in a 16 game tournament with four play-in games.
Premier League Classic Games
The Premier League channel itself doesn’t have any classic game replays, but the NBC Sports channel has had classic games for years now. With the pandemic, they’ve stepped up the amount of games they upload and they’ve also uploaded season recaps and best goals of the season from years past.
Sources:
- Bleacher Report
- ESPN.com
- MLB on YouTube
- NFL on YouTube
- NBA on YouTube
- NHL on YouTube
- NBC Sports on YouTube
- Premier League on YouTube
The Goal Post 