By Owen Patten ‘24
With Canada closing their borders from the U.S, the Toronto Raptors knew it would be hard to be able to play in ScotiaBank Arena. As of right now, Tampa has the Amalie Arena for the NHL, but could easily turn it into a basketball arena because many other cities have that as well. The Raptors have tried asking the government to play but they declined the Raptors offer. With the season rapidly approaching the Raptors must make a decision soon if they want to play basketball this season.
But with that in mind, the Raptors would have to depart half way through the basketball season to go back to Toronto. This also happened with the Toronto Blue Jays this year. The Candian government would not let the Blue Jays play, so they also needed a new home. The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Baltimore Orioles offered the Toronto Blue Jays access to their stadiums, but the states’ government declined that offer. With no home,The Blue Jays continued to search. They discovered that Buffalo had a minor league team (The Buffalo Bisons) that were not playing in Sahlen Field. The state of New York let the Toronto Blue Jays play in the Bison’s stadium.They have played multiple games here this past summer. Even with the success with the Bluejays playing in Buffalo there is a lot to be determined for the future of the Raptors season.
Unfortunately, due to California’s COVID-19 regulations, the San Francisco 49ers are unable to play at their home stadium, so for Weeks 13-14 they will play their home games in Arizona. The Cardinals organization has been very inviting and very supportive towards the 49ers. This means the 49ers will “host” the Buffalo Bills in the Arizona Cardinals stadium next Monday night. Then on December 13th, the 49ers will also host the Washington Football Team. At the time, it was unclear if the county would allow the 49ers to train at the Levi’s Stadium facilities, but unfortunately for them the county would not budge. The 49ers were considering Dallas and San Diego for their temporary home as well. As a result, the 49ers will have to do everything in Arizona leading up to the December 20th game against Dallas. Santa Clara county sports restrictions lift on December 21st at 5 a.m PT, unless it is extended.
The COVID-19 pandemic has put multiple teams in tough situations throughout multiple sports in 2020 and they have had to adapt in a crazy season.