With the COVID-19 pandemic still sweeping the nation, many are wondering what the future of professional sports is going to look like. The traumatic effects will remain for some time, and sports will most likely be altered. With yearly favorites such as March Madness, the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) postponed or cancelled, all sports fans are hoping for a comeback soon.

The MLB is talking about having a season, but it will have a few alterations. They are planning to shorten the season by 10-15 games, and they will obviously be starting later than usual. The MLB wants to start sometime in May, and more games will be played in states like Arizona so that postponements due to bad weather are less likely to happen.

NFL fans are keeping their hopes up! The season is scheduled to start on September 10, so it is more likely to have a full season. The league has been less affected than most, as they start later than the others. The NFL draft was held from April 23-25 and had no in-person spectators.

Basketball has perhaps been hit the hardest by the pandemic. The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)’s seasons were unfortunately cut off right before college basketball’s biggest event of the year—March Madness—was cancelled. NBA teams only played between 63 to 67 games out of the usual 82 game season, and some college players’ careers ended without another chance to take home the title. The NBA is swinging for May 8 as its opening date for limited practices. The WNBA season is scheduled to start just days later on May 15, and its draft was held as scheduled on April 17.

Although COVID-19 has pressed pause on many of our favorite sports, organizations are already making plans to make sure we get the entertainment we need! All we can do while we wait is sit patiently, watch reruns and keep track of these important updates.