
It is official. Professional sports may resume in Florida, as long as they remain closed to the general public.
An April 9 memorandum from Jared Moskowitz, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, explains that professional sports employees have been deemed essential in an amendment that was made to an April 1 executive order issued by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The memo states that recent additions to the list of “essential services” in our state include “employees at a professional sports and media production with a national audience — including any athletes, entertainers, production team, executive team, media team and any others necessary to facilitate including services supporting such production — only if the location is closed to the general public.”
DeSantis said on Tuesday that Floridians are “chomping at the bit” for sports.
Currently, several sports venues throughout the state are being used for coroanvirus testing, including Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, where the Dolphins play, Marlins Park in Miami, and the FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach.
“If you think about it, we’ve never had a period like this in modern American history where you’ve had such little new content, particularly in the sporting realm,” DeSantis added.
World Wrestling Entertainment, which operates from Orlando, has already resumed production. It has three television shows per week, including “SmackDown,” which airs on Friday nights on FOX.