As stadiums and arenas around the world sit empty, professional sports teams and leagues are losing billions of dollars, fans have become distraught, and many league employees have lost their jobs. In the United States and abroad, leagues are grappling with the polarizing and painstakingly difficult question of when and how they can reopen.[pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="left" background="off" border="none" shadow="off"]The virus has affected countries in different ways, and so leagues have put together vastly different protocols for returning to play.[/pullquote] Almost all professional sports leagues in Europe and the US suspended play in mid-March as the coronavirus began to sweep across the world. In the US, this meant that the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Hockey League (NHL) seasons were suspended right before the playoffs were slated to begin, and the start of the Major League Baseball (MLB) season, which usually begins in late March, had to be pushed back to the summer. The virus has affected countries in different ways, and so leagues have put together vastly different protocols for returning to play.