President Trump strikes optimistic tone in talks with U.S. sports commissioners
The sports world continues to be sidelined in the United States because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But on Saturday, President Donald Trump talked with the commissioners from all of the country’s major sports leagues and reportedly offered an optimistic outlook for the return of games.
It’s been more than three weeks since field and arenas emptied. The NBA suspended its 2019-20 season on March 11 because of the coronavirus. The following day, Major League Baseball, the NHL and MLS also stopped play.
While there are no games, the NFL Draft is still scheduled for April 23-25, although it will be a virtual event.
Trump and the commissioners, whose conference call began at 11 a.m., discussed COVID-19. ESPN’s Adam Schefter shared the full list of participants:
White House spokesman Judd Deere shared this statement, via the Guardian’s Rick Westhead, about the call:
“Today, President Donald J. Trump spoke by telephone with commissioners of major league sports to discuss the all-of-America response to COVID-19. The President recognized the good work being done by many teams and players to care for their communities, work forces and fan bases across the nation. The commissioners thanked President Trump for his national leadership and for his interest in the sports industry. President Trump encouraged them to continue to support their fellow Americans during this challenging time.”
Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network believes President Trump discussed charitable contributions and how the leagues could help the fight against the coronavirus.
Schefter reported Trump hopes to have the NFL start on time and, if all goes well, have fans back in stadiums and arenas by August:
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowksi tweeted that NBA commissioner Adam Silver hopes sports can help kick-start the economy once the games begin:
This story was originally published April 4, 2020 at 7:40 AM with the headline "President Trump strikes optimistic tone in talks with U.S. sports commissioners."
