Nashville baseball fans might be in luck! While sports events all across the country have been canceled for safety reasons, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Nashville Sounds General Manager Adam Nuse is hopeful that the Nashville Sounds will still play this summer.

“I’m confident and extremely optimistic about the opportunity to host baseball again,” Adam told News Channel 5.

Earlier this week, Major League Baseball proposed beginning the 2020 season in early July, with an 82-game schedule, abbreviated from the standard 140 game season.

Opening would still have its challenges, Adam concedes. While major league baseball teams can still profit from playing, even to empty stadiums, thanks to television contracts, minor league teams rely solely on fan attendance, But even if fans can’t attend, all hope is not lost.

“It would be a huge money loss [to play without fans],” Adam acknowledged. “It just doesn’t make sense from a business standpoint. But from a fan’s standpoint, we might look to cut a deal with a local TV station. It’s not going to make us a lot of money, but it would bring baseball and some normalcy back.”

Other options that would allow the Nashville Sounds, and other minor league teams, to continue playing include extending the season into the fall, or arranging the schedule so as to limit travel are both options, as well as eliminating the playoffs.

“That would be a unique way to play without having a playoff and that trophy to play for at the end of the season,” Adam noted. “But if it gets players back on the field that’s ultimately what we’re here to do, is to get players that opportunity to get in and play some games. I think if that all magically happened that would be a huge accomplishment and we’d all be pretty happy with that.”

With Nashville in the beginning stages of reopening, Adam is hopeful that First Horizon Park, where the Sounds play, could welcome at least some visitors in two months, even fi the park isn’t filled to capacity.

“We’re just trying to figure out, if all the stars could align, when can we have actual games at the ballpark,” Adam acknowledged. “Our hope is if this July 4th works for MLB, it fits really well with Mayor Cooper’s four phases that he put together, that by that point July 4th could be a reality.”

Keep track of updates at the Nashville Sounds website.

Photo Credit: Unsplash / Jose Morales