Major League Baseball is considering starting the regular season in Florida and Arizona, quarantining the players and coaches in the process, per a report by Ken Rosenthal.
The NBA and English Premier League soccer are also considering a similar course of action to ensure their seasons can be completed.
The appeal of conducting the first part of the season in Florida and Arizona is there are already enough spring training facilities in the area to play games, and they are close enough to each other that it would cut down on travel.
If MLB decides to do this, it would create scheduling conflicts. The Pirates and Cardinals play their spring training games in Florida, while the other three NL Central teams play in Arizona.
These games would also be closed to the public.
Earlier this week, Jameson Taillon, the Pirates' player union representative, said the union and league were considering starting the season in empty stadiums. While both sides would ideally have fans in attendance for the first game of the season, they are in agreement that games in empty stadiums is better than not playing games at all.
As the season's start date has likely been pushed to June or July, the likelihood of starting the season without the crowd has also increased.
President Donald Trump said Saturday that he would like to see fans attend games again by August. It is unclear if medical experts find that to be a realistic timeline.
Taillon added both sides were considering letting franchises conduct their second spring training in the club's home city.
“If Florida happens to be a hot spot [for COVID-19] at that point, I think it would take place in Pittsburgh, and vice-versa,” Taillon said.
Taillon said plenty of different concepts were being considered, but the goal for both sides is to play as many games as possible in 2020.
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