Desperate AU Sports Leagues Want to Restart

April 17, 2020 by

Australia’s struggling sports leagues are pushing for a restart, with Australian Rules Football and Rugby League both hoping to begin business again in the next few months. Even if it is in empty stadiums, play needs to resume, they say, and this move could potentially provide a model for other countries to follow that have similarly suspended competitions during the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

Administrators at the Australian Rugby League have come out in support of a proposal that bids they resume on 28 May. The nation’s wealthiest code, AFL, is considering comprehensive plans to restart roughly one month later. They want to base all their 18 clubs at isolated camps before playing a quick-fire season at a couple of empty arenas.

This move to get going again is going against the advice of health experts who warn that it might cause a second wave of the disease to spring up in the southern hemisphere as we go into the winter season. But while it is hardly the perfect response to the pandemic, getting going again is critical for the leagues in a day and age where getting onscreen is an imperative.

Sports Australia reports that its sector employs over 200 000 people normally and contributes as much as 3% of the gross domestic product. This total puts it on a par with agriculture. And while AFL may have the financial means to survive this crisis, consolidation looms for other professional sporting leagues.

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