Right on the heels of MLB’s announcement that Spring Training has been suspended and the regular season has been delayed at least two weeks (which would be about April 8), Illinois Governor JB Pritzker is reportedly making a request that would keep baseball out of Chicago much longer.
From an Athletic exclusive report, unlocked for all:
Sources: Gov. Pritzker recommending no sporting events in Illinois until May https://t.co/TZXblHQNjk
— The Athletic Chicago (@TheAthleticCHI) March 12, 2020
Each of the individual sports owners will necessarily also be in contact with their respective leagues on this topic, but if Pritzker’s health officials have information that suggests we will not be past the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak by early April, the teams may have no choice but to comply.
And *IF* that were to happen, the only way you’d see sports back before the end of April would be the leagues could logistically accommodate alternative travel, or if the affected teams would play without fans at first.
This is all unfolding as we speak, so I don’t have any hard dates for you at this time. MLB is delaying, for now, only through about April 8. But Illinois may push the Cubs, White Sox, Bulls, the Fire, and other sports to wait longer than that.