How the coronavirus impacts Phillies, Sixers, Flyers and Union as major pro sports leagues limit locker room access

Responding to the increasing threat of the coronavirus, Major League Baseball, the NBA, the NHL, and MLS released a joint statement Monday announcing that the leagues will limit locker room access only to players and essential employees of teams until further notice.

The full statement reads:

“After consultation with infectious disease and public health experts, and given the issues that can be associated with close contact in pre- and post-game settings, all team locker rooms and clubhouses will be open only to players and essential employees of teams and team facilities until further notice. Media access will be maintained in designated locations outside of the locker room and clubhouse setting. These temporary changes will be effective beginning with tomorrow’s games and practices.

“We will continue to closely monitor this situation and take any further steps necessary to maintain a safe and welcoming environment.”

Here’s how the leagues’ decision will impact the Philadelphia teams:

Baseball owners held a conference call Monday evening with MLB officials. The Phillies clubhouse at Spectrum Field was open before, during, and after the team’s 3-1 win over the Yankees on Monday. But it will be closed Tuesday.

ESPN reported that teams will make players available via news conferences and interviews outside the clubhouse, but that media members and players will stay six feet apart, according to guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control. The Phillies instructed their players on Saturday to not sign autographs for fans as a precaution.

The Phillies have 14 spring-training games left in Florida before opening the season on March 26 in Miami. They then play the Mets in New York, which has declared a state of emergency because of coronavirus. But MLB does not have plans to postpone or cancel any games.

The 76ers had off Monday but will have media availability after practice Tuesday. At the Sixers’ Camden practice facility, the press never enters locker rooms, instead conducting interviews in open areas.

The press has been able to enter locker rooms for pregame and postgame interviews at the Wells Fargo Center, so the new limitations will impact coverage for Wednesday’s game against the Pistons.

The Professional Basketball Writers Association issued the following statement in support of the NBA’s decision:

“The coronavirus poses a serious health threat to everyone. The Professional Basketball Writers Association believes the safety of fans, players, team employees, arena workers and the media who cover the league must be protected. Our thoughts are with all people who already have been adversely impacted by the virus.

“Therefore, we understand the NBA’s decision to temporarily close locker rooms to everyone but players and essential team personnel with the NBA’s promise that once the coronavirus crisis abates, the league will restore full access to the journalists who cover the league.

“Our members remain committed to providing thorough, insightful and fair coverage. Locker room access is essential to good sports journalism. It allows for mutually respectful working relationships to be built, story ideas to form and for organic conversation to occur. It leads to richer stories and more informed reporting.”

The media will have access to players and coaches in a designated area. Media members will have access in these areas when covering the Flyers and Boston Bruins after their practice Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Center and after their game later that night.

“We will abide by whatever the league says,” said Zack Hill, the Flyers’ public-relations director.

Major League Soccer will, like the other leagues, have its team public relations staffs bring players out of the locker room to a designated area.

Soccer journalists are used to not having locker room access, since international leagues and tournaments don’t provide it. Nor does the National Women’s Soccer League. Global soccer instead follows the worldwide practice of a designated interview area called a “mixed zone.” The NWSL does that, as do the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams.

But the difference, especially in soccer, is that all players must pass through mixed zones after games, either walking from the field to the locker room or from the locker room to the exit.

There is no such guarantee here, and some players already find ways out as is. Los Angeles FC star Carlos Vela refused to talk to the media after Sunday night’s 3-3 tie with the Union, and across town the Galaxy’s Javier Hernández didn’t talk after Saturday’s 1-0 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Big East Conference announced that its men’s basketball tournament will go on as scheduled from Wednesday through Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York.

“We have maintained a direct line of communication with the New York City Department of Health and Office of Emergency Management, who are not recommending the cancellation of large gatherings in New York City at this time,” the conference said in a statement.