NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — Major League Baseball owners have agree to a potential plan to restart the coronavirus-delayed season, starting in early July in baseball stadiums without fans.
Officials with the league will make presentation to representatives of the players union on Tuesday to garner their approval, the Associated Press reported. The players union must agree to the terms of the agreement and talks are expected to be difficult, with debate over an unprecedented revenue split expected, a person familiar with the decision told the AP.
“Bear with me, but it feels like we’ve zoomed past the most important aspect of any MLB restart plan: health protections for players, families, staff, stadium workers and the workforce it would require to resume a season,” Washington pitcher Sean Doolittle wrote on Twitter. “What’s the plan to ethically acquire enough tests? … What’s the protocol if a player, staff member, or worker contracts the virus?”
If accepted, the proposed timetable would see spring training get underway in June, with the season starting up on or around the 4th of July weekend, the AP reported.
While the games would initially start with no fans in the stadium, as the season progresses, the proposal imagines fans being allowed to return over time as the virus permits.
Teams would play at their regular season stadiums if possible, but if local conditions preclude play, they may relocate to their spring training ballparks.
As well, the All-Star Game, scheduled for Los Angeles’ Dodgers Stadium on July 14, likely would be called off and post-season play expanded by adding four new wildcard slots in each league.
According to the AP, teams will propose that players receive a percentage of their salaries based on a 50/50 split of revenue the league receives during the regular season and postseason.
