Hi Everyone,
Welcome to the last edition of Extra Innings. It is my hope that this newsletter helped you all as much as it has helped me. Looking back to the beginning, my newsletter only went to two people and now, by the 40th edition, it will make it to a couple of hundred email boxes. It is very humbling to have the support of so many people.
The MLB and the MLBPA can’t seem to agree on much these days and that includes the proposal to delay the start of the season to May. There has been some worry that the local government would not allow the start of spring training to begin as scheduled, so there has been a push to shorten the season and give more time to teams to set up safe facilities for their players.
There is a current Collective Bargaining Agreement in effect for this season, meaning there is no guarantee that many of the changes in the game last year will be brought back for this season. The two sides could come together and iron out some smaller details, but as things currently stand, Spring Training will start in a few weeks.
Unfortunately, for fans, the MLB and MLBPA will be negotiating a lot this year with the League’s Collective Bargaining Agreement ending at the end of this season. Negotiations went poorly last summer and if the two sides have issues working together this season it could spell disaster for the 2022 season.
Notable Information From the Sports World:
Olympics: The Olympic Committee has released a 32-page outlining appropriate behavior for athletes and spectators. The document severely limits most celebrations and even restricts athletes from singing their national anthem on the podium. It seems to be a not so subtle hint that the Olympic Committee doesn’t want any fans this summer.
Princess Cruises: Princess Cruises has unveiled a sportsbook called “Ocean Sportsbook” that will allow people on the cruise to bet in international waters. This is the first cruise liner to offer this kind of incentive and could help the company regain its customer base as the pandemic nears an end.
Australian Open: With Australia doing such a great job of smothering the virus, the Australian Open will be expecting about 30,000 fans per day. Throughout the entire tournament, that will equate to roughly 50% capacity. It will be the most populated sporting event since the pandemic started.
Thank you again for all of your support over the last 40 weeks.
Best,
Nick Goss
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