Opening Day of the 2021 Major League Baseball season is underway making its pitch for more optimism than the league faced in 2020. Still, baseball fans got a quick reminder that COVID-19 will still have an impact on this year's schedule. All teams were expected to play Thursday, but the New York Mets and Washington Nationals game was postponed out of an "abundance of caution" after one of the Nationals players tested positive for the coronavirus.
MLB Chief Operations and Strategy Officer Chris Marinak said he anticipates that things will get easier as the season goes on.
"I think out of an abundance of caution we didn't want to rush into things and risk any additional spread, but hopefully over the course of the season, we'll see that it's a little bit easier to manage this year, particularly once the players get vaccinated," Marinak told Cheddar.
In addition, the league has added a number of protocols since the start of the pandemic, including enhanced testing and digital devices worn by players to help with contact tracing.
Marinak said that, ideally, players will work with hospitals and vaccination sites in their home markets to get vaccinated as quickly as possible.
Once at least 85 percent of players are vaccinated, they will no longer have to wear masks in the dugout and bullpen; clubhouse amenities such as pool tables and steam rooms will be restored; players will be allowed to drink and eat on flights, and gather in indoor spaces such as hotels as long as no non-vaccinated people are present.
These benefits are designed to motivate players to get vaccinated, Marinak said.
"Those types of things I think are important for players," he said. "The season's a real big grind. Anything we can do to give them some of the relaxing measures that we've had in place in prior seasons I think is something that they really value and appreciate."
Even with the possibility of more game cancellations, Marinak said the league has not set a threshold in advance of the season for how many games need to take place for teams to qualify for postseason play.
"I think we're hopeful that given the amount of time we have to finish the season — it ends in October — that we'll be able to find a way to play most, if not all, the games," he said.
As for the fans, mask-wearing is still mandated across the league, but stadium capacity is being decided by the individual clubs.
"We've really told the clubs to work with their local health officials and figure out what's appropriate for each market," Marinak said.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
U.S. sports betting is booming as NFL and college football fuel massive activity. BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt breaks down trends, growth, and what’s next.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
Disney's changes to a program for disabled visitors are facing challenges in federal court and through a shareholder proposal. The Disability Access Service program, which allows disabled visitors to skip long lines, was overhauled last year. Disney now mostly limits the program to those with developmental disabilities like autism who have difficulty waiting in lines. The changes have sparked criticism from some disability advocates. A shareholder proposal submitted by disability advocates calls for an independent review of Disney's disability policies. Disney plans to block this proposal, claiming it's misleading. It's the latest struggle by Disney to accommodate disabled visitors while stopping past abuses by some theme park guests.
With a merger this big, creators, studios, and theaters all face uncertain futures. Here’s what experts are worried about and what good could come from it.
With disengagement rising and hybrid work shifting, 'Everybody Matters' author Bob Chapman explains why treating people well could define the future of work.
We sat down with Ali Furman, U.S. Consumer Markets Industry Leader at consulting firm PwC to ask what trends she garnered from the initial data this year.
