Despite growing cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., major sports leagues like the NBA, MLS and MLB are on schedule to resume atypical seasons in late July. While games are all planned to be televised, all stadiums are expected to remain empty for each professional league. For baseball, that means the loss of a famous pastime – the ballgame hot dog.
According to sports business news site Team Marketing Report, the Washington Nationals may be hurting the most from not selling hot dogs when their season resumes, losing out on a league-high $7 per stadium dog. Following close behind are the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers, each selling a ballgame dog for $6.75 in 2019. The Baltimore Orioles take the crown for the cheapest hot dog, selling for just $1.50 last year. The Arizona Diamondbacks came in a close second at $2 a dog, while the New York Yankees, surprisingly, had the third-lowest priced hot dog at $3.
Opening day for the MLB is scheduled for July 23, when the Washington Nationals host the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers host the San Francisco Giants. The rest of the games will start the following day, with all stadiums completely empty – at least at the beginning. During the adjourned 60-day season, if cases in certain regions continue to fall under a threshold, stadiums may begin to open up under city and state guidelines. That would mean the return of the stadium dog, and the happy baseball fan.
