California governor proposes allowing pro sports to restart in June

California governor Gavin Newsom offered good news for sports fans and related entities, announcing during his regular briefing on Monday the state could reopen from the coronavirus pandemic to allow closed-door professional games with enhanced measures as soon as the beginning of June.

Newsom said that if the trends concerning the virus continue to track downward in the meantime, sports could return in June, and that means perhaps the LA Galaxy could restart their season in a matter of weeks at Dignity Health Sports Park.

Of course, this is not an official decree yet. Among other entities, MLS has yet to announce their plan to return to action. In recent weeks, credible reports claim the league plans to return to action at a neutral venue, most likely Orlando, with all teams coming together to train for a few weeks before playing a tournament-style slate of games in Florida to restart the season.

However, with the league asking players to both return to a “biodome” situation where they would be away from home and family for two months or more, in addition to asking players to take a pay cut, players have reportedly been wary of signing off. For example, Chicharito’s wife is expecting their second child — would Chicha be willing to leave home for several months and not be on hand if his wife faces any complications or the birth of the child?

In that way, allowing teams to take charter flights, as they have reportedly committed to doing for the foreseeable future, while playing at their regular venues behind closed doors, could be much more palatable if other states get on a similar timeline. Considering California has been one of the more restrictive states during the coronavirus shutdown, there is hope the timeline is approaching for sports to restart.

But again, we’ll have to see what happens. There’s also the question of local health department mandates and whether they will allow local venues to reopen to closed-door games, but again, there’s good news that sports — including soccer, including the Galaxy — could be back in action here in California before long. We’ll keep you posted on developments as we learn them.

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