Professional Sports Risk Losing Their Audience [OPINION]

NASCAR, golf, and boxing are all back on television. I'm lucky because I enjoy watching all of those sports. However, I miss baseball, basketball, and hockey.

The longer professional sports stay stagnant due to the Chinese-imported COVID-19 virus, the more they risk their dominance as a form of entertainment. We can't follow teams that aren't playing their games.

This time of year traditionally is the start of baseball season, except nobody is playing ball. I enjoy listening to the Red Sox on the radio and they have been on WBSM for decades. I also like watching other baseball teams on television. I, along with millions of other baseball fans, are doing something else now with the time we dedicated to watching Major League Baseball.

I miss the Red Sox and MLB and I am going to be there for their 2020 season if they have a 2020 season, but I might have fewer fellow fans alongside me. There are lots of people who just may have moved on from baseball and found other things to entertain them. Baseball has been an American tradition for generations but it is gone and the dedication to the sport may have been replaced for some fans.

The NFL is another question mark. It looks like the National Football League is going to have a traditional schedule but it may become a political quagmire. I'm deeply involved in the political conversations going on in our nation, which is why it is nice to take a break and watch sports. If the NFL is going to become a political battleground, I and millions like me will find another place on the dial to relax.

Chris McCarthy is the host of The Chris McCarthy Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon. Contact him at chris.mccarthy@townsquaremedia.com and follow him on Twitter @Chris_topher_Mc. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.