
Coronavirus Update 3/19: MLS, Premier League, ATP, WTA Lengthen Postponements; WrestleMania 36 Turned to Two-Day Event By SVG Staff
Thursday, March 19, 2020 - 1:42 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
In light of the CDC's recent recommendations for curbing the spread of the coronavirus, pro sports leagues continue to postpone or cancel seasons and events. Last week, SVG began posting a regularly updated list of announcements from pro leagues regarding postponed, canceled, or altered events. Below are further announcements, made on Thursday, March 19. Stay tuned to sportsvideo.org for more information on how the spread of the coronavirus is impacting the sports-production industry.
MLS, Premier League, ATP, WTA Extend Postponements
Major League Soccer is falling in line with other professional leagues, by stretching out their plan to postpone all matches for another eight weeks. The postponement was originally supposed to last until April 11. The league is exercising all options to plan their entire season and are thinking of playing their MLS Cup in the month of December. The MLS Cup used to be played during that time of year prior to last season.
Overseas, England's top-flight soccer division, the Premier League, is not playing any of their matches before at least April 30. In year's past, the league has always remained committed to ending the season by the FA-imposed deadline of June 1, but this year, the FA is waving that restriction in order to complete the season.
Outside of soccer, the ATP and WTA are also pushing back play as well. The entities are planning to resume action on June 7, so tournaments scheduled to take place on June 8 are still moving forward.
WrestleMania 36 Becomes Two-Day Event in Multiple Locations
After making the choice to move the mega event from Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, the WWE is making WrestleMania 36 into a two-day event. Starting on Saturday, April 4 at 7 p.m., former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski will take over hosting duties. The main card will be split on that night and will conclude on the event's original date, Sunday, April 5.
In addition to the multi-day pay-per-view, WrestleMania will also take place at other facilities other than the WWE Performance Center. WWE will announce more details on Friday Night Smackdown on Friday, March 20 on Fox.
Western Hockey League Cancels Remainder of Season
With 63 games played, the Western Hockey League, one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League as the highest level of junior hockey in Canada, is canceling the remainder of the 2019-20 season. Despite further discussions, the last 54 regular-season games will not be played, but the league is planning on playing the 2020 WHL Playoffs at a later date.
The WHL takes the safety of our players, officials, staff, fans, and everyone associated with the WHL very seriously, commented WHL Commissioner Ron Robison in a statement. Given the ongoing public health developments regarding COVID-19, we deemed it necessary to cancel the remaining games on the 2019-20 WHL Regular Season Schedule.
More from Sports Video Group
28/10/2025
ESPN Announces Monsters Funday Football', Its Latest Real-Time Animated Bro...
28/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Catherine Chalfant, Manager, Remote Operations, ESPNThe Ole Miss alum is an operational force behind ESPN's extensive college-football catalo...
28/10/2025
Elevating the experience: AI and data take Ryder Cup to the next level By Joe OHalloran
Tuesday, October 28, 2025 - 10:25
Print This Story
NBC produced th...
28/10/2025
Conquering the Air (waves): Taking a close up look at the IBC Accelerator Priva...
28/10/2025
World Series 2025: Spectrum SportsNet LA Brings Dodgers Fans Closer to the Actio...
27/10/2025
You can touch this: Haptics becoming central to the virtual live experience By Adrian Pennington
Friday, October 24, 2025 - 09:12
Print This Story
The vid...
27/10/2025
A tale of two trailers: France's Stop & Go doubles up with its new hybrid tr...
27/10/2025
Pro Padel League Stages City's Cup Finals Inside NYC's Hammerstein Ballr...
27/10/2025
World Series 2025: Sportsnet Delivers Made-in-Canada' Moment for a Nation U...
27/10/2025
ESPN Extends Partnership With Sony's Beyond Sports To Expand Animated Altern...
26/10/2025
Obituary: Charlie Jablonski, Industry Leader and Long-Time NBC and NBC Olympics ...
24/10/2025
NEP CEO Martin Stewart on $700M Investment, Restructuring, and the Challenges Fa...
24/10/2025
FOX Sports Debuts Next-Gen Graphics, Celebrates Career of Lead Producer Pete Mac...
24/10/2025
GROUP MEDIAPRO Chairman and CEO Tatxo Benet Steps DownBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Friday, October 24, 2025 - 2:37 pm
Print This Story | Subscri...
24/10/2025
NBA Tip-Off: Amazon Prime Video Debuts Cutting-Edge Studio, Mobile Units, Global...
23/10/2025
Unlocking character: Sportcast on executing the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 new ...
23/10/2025
Clear coordination: Juggling the new Bundesliga rights cycle requirements and pu...
23/10/2025
Analysis: Is piracy just the cost of doing business? By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, October 21, 2025 - 09:58
Print This Story
It's high ...
23/10/2025
ESPN's Adam Whitlock on Driving Real-World Innovation Across the Video-Trans...
23/10/2025
SVG TranSPORT 2025 Unites 300+ Industry Leaders in New York for Deep Dive Into L...
23/10/2025
NBA Tip-Off: League Starts Season With Two New Broadcast Partners, In-House NBA ...
23/10/2025
NFL Deepens Business Partnership with EA Sports; More Madden Casts to Come?EA Sports will remain the exclusive producer and distributor of Madden NFL video game...
23/10/2025
NFL Moves Pro Bowl Games Indoors and to Super Bowl Week; Leans Into a Made-for-T...
22/10/2025
Prime Video Inks Deal To Present NFL Black Friday Game Worldwide By SVG Staff
Wednesday, October 22, 2025 - 10:06 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story ...
22/10/2025
NBA Tip-Off: ESPN Goes 1080p HDR End-to-End, Flipping HDR Switch on REMI and REM...
22/10/2025
FloSports Empowers Division II, III Athletic Departments With Turnkey Production...
22/10/2025
Wall Street Video Summit Debuts, Bringing Together 200 Financial Enterprise Vide...
22/10/2025
Dueling Pianos: International Chopin Piano Competition Is as Competitive as a Ba...
21/10/2025
NAB New York 2025: Although AES Show Is on Its Own, Audio Will Be a Major Part o...
21/10/2025
NAB New York 2025: Business of Broadcast and Media,' Future of Content'...
21/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Ethan Folz, Senior Director, Digital Operations and Quality of Ex...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: Livestream Offers Graphic Overlays, Predictive Gaming, Ancil...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: At the Front Bench With Producer Frank DiGraci and Director ...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: NBC Sports, NEP Build Ultra-Flexible Production Plan That Se...
20/10/2025
Inside TAMS: How Time-Addressable Media Stores could redefine sports workflows By Paul Markham
Friday, October 17, 2025 - 08:57
Print This Story
A penalty...
20/10/2025
Transformational production: Inside TVN's remote production push for the DFL...
20/10/2025
How NBC Sports Transitioned Stamford Facility to One Format: 1080p HDRMulti-year plan harmonizes workflows, simplifies operationsBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial ...
20/10/2025
NBA on NBC' Studio Production Team Is Ready for Tip-Off With Coast-to-Coast...
20/10/2025
Under pressure: TVN CEO Markus Osthaus considers the German sports broadcasting ...
17/10/2025
NEP Group Receives New Equity Investment From 26North Partners LP, Co-InvestorsCarlyle remains the largest shareholder as the company prepares for the futureBy ...
17/10/2025
Apple Lands Five-Year Deal for F1 Distribution in the U.S.Besides airing on Apple TV, the sport will be amplified on other Apple servicesBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Ed...
17/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Marshall Electronics' Bernie Keach on the Future of PTZ Camera...
17/10/2025
L2 Productions' REMI Facility in Austin Can Produce Content From AnywhereMusic festivals, sports events are produced via flypacks and remote control roomsBy...
16/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: FUJIFILM Execs on GFX ETERNA 55 Camera, Importance of Shallow-Dept...
16/10/2025
Squash's Most Ambitious Broadcast Production To Be Deployed at Comcast Busin...
16/10/2025
Main Street Sports Group Inks Deal With Omaha Productions, Launches Original-Con...
16/10/2025
A Historic Precursor? FIFA, HBS, DAZN Offer an Inside Look at Production of FIFA...
16/10/2025
Prime Video Offers Sneak Peak at New NBA on Prime StudioThe massive 13,000-sq-ft, two-story studio features a LED regulation half court and hoopBy Jason Dachman...
16/10/2025
SVG Remote Production Forum Draws Record Crowd for Visit to PGA TOUR Studios, De...
16/10/2025
BitFire's Ben Grafchik on How Growing Cloud Workflows Are Impacting the Live...