Gov. Gretchen Whitmer clarifies stadium comments: ‘Sports is not over’

Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer caused a bit of a stir earlier this week for pockets of fans that were caught off guard by her no full stadiums comments from a radio interview. On Friday during a weekly press conference, Whitmer doubled down and clarified on her thoughts on where the state stands with live events this fall.

“We’re going to be in a new normal for quite a while,” Whitmer said, “and it doesn’t mean that sports is over. Sports is not over.”

“We need a vaccine, and we need mass quantities available to be able to test and acknowledge we have some immunity built up. We’re not there yet. Until that happens, I think all the organizers of these leagues understand how important it is that we act responsibly here.”

Sports leagues are working on coming back in the coming weeks and months, albeit in a much different fashion.

“Major League Baseball is pursuing a shorter season in stadiums where people can watch the games on television, not in person,” Whitmer said. ”That may be how we have to operate for a while.”

The call is going to be in the hands of the state and local governments ultimately and Whitmer is supportive of the idea of having them back.

“We can have sports,” Whitmer said, “just the way we observe them might look different for a while.”

As it pertains to the return of college football, the NCAA has remained steadfast in its approach of not discussing sports until students are back on campus. The University of Michigan has not announced officially plans to bring back students for fall in-person classes as of this posting.

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