By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Welcome to the new normal of coronavirus and sports.
The Vegas Golden Knights have recently increased the number of daily cleanings at City National Arena, the VGK training center and headquarters in suburban Summerlin, and placed a heightened emphasis on shared surfaces as precautionary measures against the coronavirus, according to the team.
“We continue to advise our fans, program participants and staff to employ the same precautions they do during cold and flu season, encourage them to stay home if they feel sick and frequently wash hands thoroughly as they would do to avoid any communicable illness,” the Knights wrote in a media release Tuesday.
Also, the Knights are also taking action after Monday’s locker room access statement by four professional sports leagues– Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League and Major League Soccer.
The VGK locker room will not longer be accessible to media at the CNA practice center.
Instead, VGK coach Pete DeBoer will address the media at the press conference room podium location after practices and now a “select number of players” will follow DeBoer to the podium to answer questions from the media. Before, reporters could approach players at their locker room stalls and ask questions.
“We understand that this arrangement will limit one-on-one interview opportunities,” the Golden Knights wrote to media.
And “following the interview sessions, media members will be escorted out of the press conference room,” the team advised the media.
Also, an area at City National Arena called “Chance’s Kid Zone,” where players routinely stop to sign items for children near the team’s bench, will temporarily be closed, according to the team.
In other coronavirus sports news:
With the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena, the conference (of champions, according to the famed Bill Walton) has implemented several coronavirus changes:
- Arena Safety for Fans & Student-Athletes – Conference MGM Resorts International and T-Mobile Arena partners are taking steps to make the venue and in-arena experience as safe as possible for its employees, fans and student-athletes. That includes enhanced cleaning protocols featuring: increased access to hand sanitizers throughout the arena, more frequent cleaning and disinfectant procedures throughout the venue, and heightened awareness of the protocols and procedures for addressing contagious diseases.
- Locker Room Access – The Conference decided to limit access to team locker rooms to only student-athletes and essential staff at the upcoming tournaments until further notice. Media will not be permitted to enter team locker rooms, but will continue to have access to interview student-athletes and coaches at designated areas outside of the locker room. This decision is made given the close quarters and personal nature of the locker room environment — and after consultation with schools, and consideration of the current recommendations of health authorities and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- Band & Spirit Squads – Pac-12 allowing universities to determine participation by travel bands and spirit squads in light of the coronavirus situation.
- Pac-12 Hall of Honor Event – Pac-12 will reschedule this year’s Pac-12 Hall of Honor induction ceremony activities, including both the induction event that had been scheduled to take place on Friday and the special halftime ceremony that was scheduled for the same day during the first semifinal game. Instead, Pac-12 plans to hold the Hall of Honor induction ceremony during the 2021 Pac-12 men’s hoops tourney in Las Vegas.
Mark Burns of the Sports Business Daily reports NHL league meetings that were supposed to take place the week of March 23 in DC have currently been postponed for a yet-to-be-determined date due to coronavirus concerns. “The meetings would have included team staffers across ticketing, marketing, digital, sponsorships and community relations, among other areas. Club presidents would have attended, too. A source with knowledge of the situation described it as one where attendees might not be able to devote their full attention to the meetings given how they have to respond to the coronavirus in their home markets amid the situation’s fluid nature,” Burns wrote that an NHL statement to SBD said: “As we continue to closely monitor the evolving situation with the coronavirus, and review updated materials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Health Canada on a daily basis, the League has postponed the 2020 NHL Club Business Meetings (originally scheduled for March 25-27 in Washington, DC).”
The Sports Business Daily also says, The Ivy League this morning announced it is taking the “extraordinary step of cancelling its men’s and women’s basketball championship tournaments … due to coronavirus concerns,” according to Mike Jensen of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
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