It is going to be a rugged couple of months ahead.
New York Yankees management decided not to hold this year’s edition of the Pinstripe Bowl because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was just the latest bowl cancelation and brings into question whether there can be a college football championship game and whether the Super Bowl can be played as the COVID-19 community spread worsens. The January 30th Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama along with the January 31st Hula Bowl in Hawaii are also off the schedule. ESPN Events has wiped out two December games it owns, the Bahamas Bowl and the Hawaii Bowl. The Bahamas is desperate for tourist money and wants cruise ships to get back to sailing. The Bahamas Bowl would have been an opportunity to reach football fans as would be vacationers. Bowl games in Atlanta, Boston, Detroit and San Diego were also canceled.
More than 100 college games have been postponed or canceled because of the pandemic. There will be seven games not played in early December. That brings up the state of college football and the College Football Playoffs. The college semi-finals are scheduled for January 1st, 2021 in New Orleans and in Pasadena, California. Pasadena is in the Los Angeles area and Los Angeles County officials have put new restrictions in place in an effort to slow the community spread of COVID-19. There remains a chance that the area could revert to a stay-at-home order if the community spread of COVID-19 is not halted. The bowl season starts on December 19th. It will be interesting to see if the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas will take place as El Paso is a COVID-19 hotspot. The National Football League is in the same spot. COVID-19 is spreading and the playoffs are just a bit more than a month away. But there is TV and marketing money to be made.
