Despite being linked to MLB's billion-dollar ball clubs, minor league baseball teams are essentially just small businesses — and like most other small businesses right now, the coronavirus pandemic has put their future in jeopardy.
By the numbers: MLB's gross revenue in 2019 was $10.7 billion, 50% of which came from media rights deals. The minor leagues, by comparison, have an entirely different model, relying much more heavily on ticket sales and the in-stadium experience.
Taiwan's Super Basketball League is believed to be the world's only professional basketball league that is currently operational — a feat made possible by a swift response to coronavirus (six deaths in a country of 24 million people).
Why it matters: Despite being much smaller than the NBA (five teams compared to 30), the SBL's game-night protocols and empty arenas provide a glimpse of what NBA games might look like if conditions allow for its return this season.
The coronavirus-induced delay of the 2020 Summer Olympics could cost billions of dollars, with Japan and the International Olympic Committee footing the bill, reports the AP.
Why it matters: IOC president Thomas Bach said this weekend that his organization will likely face "several hundred million dollars" of added costs as Japan covers the rest — with estimates pegging the total postponement costs at $2 billion to $6 billion.
