Will Outdoor Sporting Events Face the Same Coronavirus Fate as Indoor Ones?

Coronavirus has already had a dramatic impact on the sporting world around the globe and its effects are becoming clearer stateside. March Madness is very much in doubt, conference tournaments are being played in front of only essential attendees, and the Ivy League canceled theirs outright.

The expectation from those plugged into the NBA is that a precipitous change could be coming sooner rather than later with an indefinite end. A snowball in motion downhill is only going to grow larger as time goes on.

Thus far, American cancellations and empty-stand decisions have been for indoor events. The next questions are if and when outdoor games will face the same fate. On first blush, it seems as though they will. But one wonders if there's a mental disconnect between sitting in a confined space with a roof and sitting in an open-air stadium.

Of course, soccer matches abroad met the same fate as basketball games. And I'd be confident betting on the prospect of some XFL games and then college football spring contests not going on as planned. Then there's the entire baseball season to consider.

Leaving the medical expertise to the experts is important at times like these. But from my view, it hardly seems like a good idea to have 40,000 people packed into Wrigley Field come April if this pandemic is still wreaking havoc. People are still going to be sitting in extreme proximity to each other and potentially coming into contact with hundreds of others.

How can the line be as simple as "Indoors bad, Outdoors Fine?"

Perhaps having a blue or night sky overhead is a good enough reason to delineate what is and isn't acceptable. And I really think, as of right now, people view the two situations far differently. Whether that's based in any type of sound logic or not, it's probably informing decision-making right now and may continue to into the future.