Gov. Ducey confirms talks with MLB Commissioner over playing all baseball games in Arizona
PHOENIX - The sports world has been severely impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and Major League Baseball is no exception.
In March, MLB officials announced that opening day is pushed back due to the outbreak. In the weeks since, there are discussions on whether to play all games in Arizona.
"Two words that would allow the country and the State of Arizona to know that things were headed back to normal would be 'play ball'," said Gov. Doug Ducey.
Gov. Ducey says he has spoken with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred about proposals that include all 30-teams playing in Arizona for the 2020 season.
"We have the facilities that are here. We have the hotel space that is here. We want to make sure the metrics and the data are proper before we were able to go forward," said Gov. Ducey.
"The only real plan that we have is that baseball is not going to return the until the public health situation was improved to the point where we're comfortable," said Manfred. "You know, 40% of our revenue is gate and gate-related. Obviously, that’s all at risk right now."
Manfred has said little about what’s being discussed, but he indicated on Fox Business that billions of dollars in television revenue are clearly at the forefront of discussion.
"We do have both significant media contracts both national and local, but at the end of the day, those contracts are dependent on our ability put out and provide content to our great partners, like Fox, and so, it is a difficult situation," said Manfred.
"It’s something that Arizona is open minded to, and I’m open minded to," said Gov. Ducey.
Does a plan for baseball in May in Arizona pose as a safety risk, with thousands being imported into the state? It poses a concern for Maricopa County Health officials.
"We would have to, of course, wait for the Governor to lift the executive order that ban gatherings of greater than 10 people," said Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine. "Regarding the timing of that, I think it’s really tricky to tell this point."
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