We are seeing bubbles in sports work. The NBA has not had a positive test in three weeks since playing at Disney's Wide World of Sports and the NHL has not had a single positive test since teams entered the bubble cities of Toronto and Edmonton.
While the NBA and NHL don't have all of their teams in the bubble, that's still an encouraging sign that we can have sports and still be safe. The MLS played 51 total games in the MLS is Back tournament and did not record a single positive COVID-19 test while also playing at the Wide World of Sports. FC Dallas and Nashville SC were not part of the bubble.
For the NFL, they will be playing games in the home stadiums of all 32 teams with limited fan capacity for most teams while others will have 0 fans in attendance. They are the second U.S. sports league to have teams playing in their home stadiums. The MLB (also playing in their home stadiums) has had outbreaks in both the Marlins and Cardinals organizations. Through August 5th, there have been 100 positive tests (that have been made public) with many happening in the month of July.
A couple NFL teams have created a training camp bubble at hotels next to their training camp sites to help try and prevent the spread of the coronavirus. It's too late now with the season less than a month away to try and get all 32 teams into bubble cities to play games.
But what about for the playoffs?
It is working for the NHL and NBA. The NFL will have 14 total teams in the playoffs and you can mimic the NHL and have two bubble cities, one for the AFC and one for the NFC, to play through the playoffs before heading down the Tampa for the Super Bowl.
We all want to see sports but the players and coaches have to be safe. Bubbles seem to work. The NFL has enough time work something out come playoff time and especially if there is a large number of positive tests during the season, a bubble would make a lot of sense.
These are unique times in 2020. Who would have thought that bubbles would be the answer?
PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES