In 2020, sports were integral to public understandings of the COVID-19 threat.
February brought early warnings about the severity of the virus from China and Italy. North Americans took notice as the NBA shut down on March 11, which was soon followed by the suspension or postponement of other major sports seasons and events. By summer, with the initial wave of infection subsiding due to widespread public health measures, many sports organizations had firm plans to play seasons and host events – many of which were held in isolated “bubble” environments or with limited numbers of spectators in attendance.
Schedules were disrupted as many professional and collegiate teams had major COVID outbreaks. Some athletes experienced prolonged recoveries that caused them to take medical leave from their sports. In December, the approval of the first COVID vaccine in the United States provided a sense of optimism for what lay ahead in 2021.
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FEBRUARY
MARCH
March 6
The National Basketball Association issues memo to all teams raising the possibility of playing games without fans in attendance.
Described as a “last resort contingency plan”, the proposed strategy comes as other professional sports leagues around the world, including the Italian Serie A soccer league and the Japanese Sumo wrestling championships hold events without spectators.
March 8
BNP Paribas Open tennis tournaments canceled.
The Association of Tennis Professionals and Women’s Tennis Association events, held in Indian Wells, California, are the first major North American sporting event to be canceled due to concerns about COVID-19. The decision comes after public health officials in the tournament’s host county of Riverside declare a state of emergency as COVID cases surge.
March 10
Ivy League conference cancels basketball tournaments
The conference cancels their men’s and women’s basketball championship tournaments, becoming the first NCAA conference to cancel a major event.
1:54 pm EST
San Francisco bans large gatherings
As the city is identified as an area of concerning amounts of viral spread, Mayor London Breed bans gatherings of over 1000 people. The Golden State Warriors announce they will play their scheduled March 12 game against the Brooklyn Nets without fans in attendance.
9:32 pm
NBA suspends season indefinitely
The league announces that they will be suspending their season indefinitely following the conclusion of that night’s games, explaining that a player on the Utah Jazz has tested positive without specifically naming Gobert. The statement affirms that the league will “use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regards to the coronavirus pandemic.”
12:39 am
Jazz players/personnel tested in quarantine
Nurses finish testing all Utah Jazz players and personnel, who will remain quarantined at Chesapeake Energy Arena until results are available and arrangements can be made for them to safely return home to Salt Lake City.
March 12
Several major professional and collegiate sports organizations suspend their seasons and cancel events
– The ATP men’s tennis tour suspends upcoming tournaments for at least 6 weeks.
– The Women’s Tennis Association also cancels two future events in Mexico (March 16-21) and Colombia (April 6-12).
– Major League Soccer suspends its season for 30 days; the National Women’s Soccer League cancels the remainder of its preseason.
– Some NCAA basketball championship tournaments began that afternoon with games played without fans in attendance, but by the end of the day, The NCAA announces that they would be canceling all remaining winter and spring championships, a decision that included the March Madness men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
– The National Hockey League suspends its season indefinitely.
– Five Major League Baseball Spring Training games are played with fans in attendance, but by day’s end, the league had canceled the rest of Spring Training and pushed back the beginning of its regular season.
– After initially announcing that the remainder of the Player’s Championship tournament at TPC Sawgrass would be completed that weekend without fans in attendance, the PGA men’s golf association decides to cancel the remainder of the tournament and its next three events. Notably, this initial timetable would allow The Masters, the prestigious grand slam tournament planned for April 9-12, to go ahead as scheduled.
– NASCAR releases a statement confirming that it will allow the race scheduled for that weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway to be held without fans.
Breonna Taylor is killed
Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman and medical worker, is killed by police officers attempting a raid on her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky.
March 19
States begin issuing Stay-at-Home orders
California becomes the first state to issue a stay-at-home order for all non-essential workers. New York State follows by announcing their own stay-at-home order the following day. By the end of the month, 26 states and territories will have issued state-at-home orders.
March 24
Olympics and Paralympics postponed
The International Olympic Committee announces that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, originally scheduled for July 24-August 9 and August 25-September 6 respectively, are postponed until 2021.
March 31
Worker at SoFi Stadium construction site tests positive for COVID-19
Construction on SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, future home of the NFL’s Chargers and Rams, was designated as an essential business project by the California government and allowed to continue while most other workplaces closed. This positive test was the first of many at the SoFi site; at least 50 workers contracted COVID-19 during a July outbreak.
Media coverage reveals that workers at the SoFi site are apprehensive and conflicted following the first COVID case. A tile layer questioned the project’s “essential” “status, saying, “If safety was the most important thing, they wouldn’t have us out here.” An electrician described the trade off between secure employment and COVID risk: “everyone is a little nervous, but we need the money.”
APRIL
April 2
Most Americans living under stay-at-home orders
Approximately 90% of Americans are subject to state or municipal orders to stay home except for essential purposes. The next day, the CDC recommends that Americans wear cloth face masks when they must leave home. The guidance implores citizens to avoid acquiring medical grade masks as healthcare facilities face urgent shortages of personal protective equipment.
MAY
May 5
Korea Baseball Organization opens its season
As South Korea’s pandemic measures prove successful in limiting the spread of COVID-19 throughout the nation, the KBO is the first major pro sports league to re-start play. The KBO is monitored closely as a ‘test case’ for the future return of professional sports in other countries. Given the lack of live sports content available in North American with major professional sports leagues shut down, ESPN networks begin airing six KBO games per week. Major American fantasy sports platforms also launch KBO leagues and daily games to attract an idle market of fantasy baseball players.
May 6
Ahmaud Arbery is killed
Nationwide protests erupt as leaked video footage shows the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, who was murdered in a racially-motivated attack by two white men on February 23 in Glynn County, Georgia. Arbery, a former high school football star, was jogging through his neighborhood when men began pursuing him in their truck, cornering him with the vehicle then shooting him three times. These protests take place despite the profound risks posed by COVID-19. Many protesters wear masks as face-coverings have become strongly recommended as a public health measure to minimize viral spread.
May 25
George Floyd is killed
George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, is murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer. Floyd’s murder provokes a new round of protests against police racism and brutality worldwide. Retired NBA player and Floyd’s friend Stephen Jackson speaks at a press conference at Minneapolis City Hall demanding accountability from the four police officers responsible for Floyd’s death. Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl Anthony Towns and teammate Josh Okogie are also in attendance.
High profile athletes, including Coco Gauff, Natasha Cloud, Bradley Beal, Jaylen Brown, and Tobias Harris, participate in Black Lives Matter protests across the United States in the weeks that follow.
May 26
NHL announces return-to-play plan
The National Hockey League announces its return-to-play plan involving a 24-team playoff format with games being played at arenas in designated “hub cities.” All players, coaches, officials and staff will be subjected to a “rigorous, regular schedule of [COVID] testing.” Formal team training camps are scheduled to begin in early July with official games starting later that month.
May 27
NWSL announces plan for Challenge Cup
The National Women’s Soccer League announces its plans for a Challenge Cup tournament including all nine league clubs. The tournament is scheduled to begin on June 27 and teams will be hosted in a “NWSL village” at Zions Bank Real Academy in Herriman, Utah. Within this controlled environment, players, coaches, and staff will be “subject to consistent testing, temperature readings, and symptom review throughout their stay in Utah.”
JUNE
June 4
NBA and WNBA Bubble plans in place
The NBA announces a plan for the resumption of its regular season and playoffs in a bio-secure facility at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The announcement details how the plan would isolate players, coaches, and staff who would not be able to leave the “Bubble” for the remainder of the season. The Bubble will be built around a strict set of protocols designed in collaboration with medical and public health experts to prevent spread of COVID-19 within the isolated facility.
ESPN reports that the WNBA is in early stages of planning a similar Bubble plan for a shortened 22-game season to take place at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
Summer workouts begin for many college football programs
Many college football teams across the United States begin summer workouts. Despite the implementation of COVID protocols, dozens of players are reported to have tested positive across major programs such as Clemson and Texas.
June 23
MLB to start season in July
Major League Baseball announces that it will begin its season on July 23. Games will be played as usual in teams’ home ballparks and traveling to road games. The 60-game shortened schedule is, however, structured by geographic region to limit team travel. Players are expected to report to team facilities on July 1.
JULY
July 10
MLB Spring Training reports low test positivity rate
28 out of 30 Major League Baseball teams report that at least one player has tested positive for COVID-19 since training camps opened on July 1, totaling 71 players across the league. This is in addition to the 58 players who tested positive at initial intake screenings. The test positivity rate across the league was 0.7%, far lower than the U.S. average of 8.4%. Dr. Gary Green, MLB’s medical director, is encouraged by the results, saying, “[The low positivity rate] means that most of our players and staff did conform to social distancing, wearing masks and avoiding high-risk situations. I’m actually kind of pleased it’s as low as that.”
July 23
MLB season begins
The Major League Baseball season starts with games in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. Several notable players, including stars David Price and Buster Posey, opt out of the shortened season citing concerns about COVID-19. While all American teams will play their games at their home stadiums, the Toronto Blue Jays must use an alternate site in Buffalo, NY after the Canadian government does not exempt the team from restrictions on unessential travel between Canada and the United States.
July 30
NBA season resumes inside Bubble
The NBA season resumes inside the Bubble with its first two scheduled games: the Utah Jazz vs. the New Orleans Pelicans and the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Los Angeles Clippers. Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz, whose positive COVID test shut down the NBA season on March 11, scores for the first points of the restarted season.
AUGUST
August 15
MLB’s Cardinals resume season
MLB’s St. Louis Cardinals play their first game since July 29. A substantial COVID-19 outbreak required the team to pause its season for 16 days as players recovered. The Cardinals are scheduled to play 53 games in 44 days to make up for their hiatus and complete the season on time.
August 23
Jacob Blake shot by police offer
Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, is shot and seriously injured by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin. News of the shooting ignites protests nationwide.
August 31
U.S. Open tennis tournament begins
After the pandemic forced the cancellation of the French Open and Wimbledon, the U.S. Open tennis tournament begins in a “modified bubble” in Flushing Meadows, New York with strict COVID protocols in place: no fans would be in attendance while players and coaches are required to remain in the controlled environment with frequent testing and social distancing.
Many of the sport’s top competitors including Simona Halep, Ashleigh Barty, Rafael Nadal, and Nick Kyrgios skip the grand slam tournament citing health and safety concerns. The day before the tournament’s opening matches, French player Benoit Paire tests positive during regularly scheduled testing and is required to withdraw from the tournament; Paire, however, remains the only men’s or women’s player to test positive during the event.
Also at the U.S. Open, Naomi Osaka attends each of her matches wearing a different face mask bearing the name of a Black person who had been killed by police.
SEPTEMBER
September 10
NFL Season begins; Duvernay-Tardiff opts out
All games will either be played to empty stadiums or at reduced capacity. 66 players opt out of the season, including Laurent Duvernay-Tardiff, the Kansas City offensive lineman who has a medical degree and spends the season working in healthcare settings. In his announcement, Duvernay-Tardiff wrote, “I cannot allow myself to potentially transmit the virus in our communities simply to play the sport that I love. If I am to take risks, I will do it caring for patients.”
College Football kicks off
The NCAA football season begins for major conferences with its first game in the Atlantic Coastal Conference (ACC) (University of Alabama at Birmingham vs. University of Miami). The Big 12 Conference then holds its first game two days later (Eastern Kentucky vs. West Virginia). The Southeastern Conference (SEC) began its season two weeks later on Sept. 26. The Big 10 and PAC-12 conferences would not begin their seasons for several weeks.
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
December 11
First COVID vaccine approved in U.S.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) grants its first Emergency Use Authorization for a COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech). Authorizations are soon approved for Moderna (December 18) and Janssen (February 27) formulas.
December 22
2020-21 NBA season tips off
The new season begins only 72 days after the completion of the 2019-20 season in the Orlando Bubble. The new shortened 72-game season will not be played in an isolated Bubble environment with a new set of health and safety protocols to navigate the ongoing risk of COVID-19. These rules include testing requirements, limits on social gathering, and strict return-to-play guidelines for players who test positive.
Teams will host games at their home arenas with the number of fans in attendance being dictated by local public health regulations. Due to cross-border travel restrictions, the Toronto Raptors will play their “home” games at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
College Football bowl games canceled
The NCAA’S Gasparilla Bowl football game is canceled due to rising COVID cases among members of the South Carolina Gamecocks. Two other bowl games, the Music City Bowl and the Texas Bowl are subsequently canceled due to high COVID case counts on participating teams. These are in addition to the 139 regular season games that were either canceled or postponed due to COVID outbreaks.
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