The entire world is currently being affected by the coronavirus outbreak, and many sports leagues and teams have had to make some changes in effort to combat it.
The first step that Major League Baseball took in conjunction with the NBA, NHL and MLS was to limit clubhouse access to players and essential staff, meaning media is not being let in at present time.
Los Angeles Dodgers president Stan Kasten recently said the organization is currently in the process of putting a plan together in case coronavirus spreads throughout the L.A. and Arizona areas. As it currently stands though, there are no plans to cancel any games or play games without fans in the stadium.
Multiple other teams are reportedly mindful of the potential to need to move home games due to coronavirus, which is now being considered a pandemic worldwide. The Dodgers have not yet reached that point yet, but president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman stated they are in discussions about what next steps to take in the near future.
However, he couldn’t yet say if the Dodgers would play games without fans in attendance, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
#Dodgers Andrew Friedman on potential changes to MLB schedule: "I think every single topic has been discussed and I think it's one of those things that we're learning more all the time. So it's figuring out what things look like later today, tomorrow. …"
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) March 11, 2020
"… And so all of it is premature at this point in terms of what's going to happen in six months, four months, three months. We're just trying to figure out the right way to proceed in the near term."
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) March 11, 2020
On the possibility of playing in empty stadiums: "I'm not sure the answer to that right now."
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) March 11, 2020
Other sports are taking the coronavirus outbreak seriously as well as it was announced on Wednesday that NCAA March Madness will take place with no fans in arenas this year. The same will likely be the case for NBA teams, although that has not been officially announced yet.
The Dodgers have a week and a half left of Cactus League play before they head back to Southern California for the exhibition annual Freeway Series against the L.A. Angels. They will face the Angels in Anaheim on Sunday, March 22, before hosting them at Dodger Stadium for two games on the following Monday and Tuesday.
Opening Day is then set for Thursday, March 26, as the Dodgers will be hosting the rival San Francisco Giants. Barring any significant changes, it’s hard to see those games being canceled or postponed altogether. It would not be surprising to see MLB follow suit and restrict fan access, however, if the virus continues to spread at the rate that it has been.
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