There’s still not a lot going on out there in LouCity land, y’all. Yes, season ticket holders will have the opportunity to watch or even participate in an executive roundtable next Monday, and that’s cool. Yes, the club is still hosting “Coffee with a coach” Zoom-y meetings every so often, which is great! Other than that, though? Nada.
It’s much the same around the country and around the world. Mexico put a halt on promotion and relegation between their first and second divisions, which understandably has a lot of people upset. That move appears to be part of a rumored plan for LigaMX and MLS to start a much closer partnership than they previously enjoyed. What that kind of partnership looks like is very much up in the air, but there are some obviously large motivating factors for both leagues to join forces in the future. Where that leaves everyone else is another question, one that MLS and LigaMX might not care about enough to answer.
Germany, however, appears to be full-steam ahead. The DFL has submitted a plan to the German government that would see Bundesliga clubs playing matches again as early as May 9. However, games would be played behind closed doors, with a maximum of about 330 people allowed to attend each match, including players, staff and other club personnel, and broadcasting staff. Fans are obviously upset about the plan, but DFL president Christian Seifert said restarting play this way was “the only way to keep the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga alive.” If the season didn’t resume, he added, “the Bundesliga would become collateral damage of the coronavirus crisis.”
If one of the most successful leagues in the world is worried about collapsing because of COVID-19, one has to wonder how it’s affecting leagues that don’t have big TV deals or decades on decades of institutional structures to fall back on to keep them afloat in this new era of empty stadiums. I don’t want to have to play games in empty stadiums, either, but at some point some soccer is better than none at all. But it’ll definitely be weird.
Have a good weekend, y’all. VAMOS MORADOS.