St. Louis Blues fans celebrate their team’s first goal against the Golden Knights in the first period of an NHL hockey game at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @csstevensphoto
Oakland Raiders fans wave their flag prior to an NFL game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo., Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019. (Heidi Fang /Las Vegas Review-Journal) @HeidiFang
Las Vegas Lights FC fans are bathed in confetti as the team scores over the Portland Timbers 2 during their match on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019, in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Las Vegas Aces fans cheer during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Washington Mystics at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Thursday, June 20, 2019. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @csstevensphoto
Las Vegas Aviators fans have fun and enjoy their "seventh inning stretch" as the team battles the Sacramento River Cats during game five of their best-of-five first-round Pacific Coast League playoff series at the Las Vegas Ballpark Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019, in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
UNLV fans celebrate a go-ahead touchdown late versus the San Jose State Spartans during the fourth quarter of their final game at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019, in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Fifty-two days.
It’s been 52 days without sports.
Fifty-two days since Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus, causing the NBA to suspend the rest of the season. The NBA’s decision sparked a chain reaction that forced the sports world to come to a screeching halt.
No hockey. No baseball. No basketball. No NASCAR. No golf. Nothing.
Now, as states begin to slowly reopen their economies and the NHL is hoping to reopen team facilities later this month, it may be less than 52 days before sports come back.
But once fans are allowed to return to sporting events, will they? Will fans feel safe enough to brave the masses and attend a sporting event fresh off a global pandemic?
