I woke up on Wednesday with the World Health Organization declaring a pandemic. I went to bed on Wednesday with the NBA suspending its season. The NBA suspension comes with good reason. At least two of their players have it and one referee could have it. To me, this meant that the NHL would follow. The NHL shares a lot of the same arenas. I woke up this morning to reports of the NHL suspending morning practices and referees going home. Then word came from the MLS. The MLS has decided to suspend its season for 30 days.
I am not surprised by this considering that they are following other North American sports leagues in suspending or canceling their season. The San Jose Earthquakes aren’t allowed to have home games for them and possibly now the league this is probably better finically. It’s still early enough in the season for the MLS to reschedule games. I do not think that any of the teams will fold. I think that the league will have larger attendance when it resumes play. I think that the MLS is finically stable enough to get through this.
I read a report yesterday that was sort of what-if to this current situation. I don’t think anyone who wrote or read that report expected the MLS to suspend its season so quickly.
I was in the middle of writing this and I was about to start talking about the USL teams, How the league wasn’t as financially as stable as the MLS. Then my phone blew up. The USL announced its 30-day suspension.
Of the current USL Championship teams, 9 are owned by MLS teams. I think that these teams are the most financially stable. I think these 9 teams can exist with or without the USL. That being said we have to look at the other teams. It’s safe to say that teams that have a lot of money or want to be MLS teams will be fine because they have money to burn. I think could be issued with teams being able to pay players and staff. This being because there is no money coming in. The revenue a team gets from the rest of the season after play resumes might not be enough for some teams to stay alive. For some teams, this might be the end. I will continue to write update blogs on my website relating to this issue.
Zac Electrifly 