After playing in front of empty stands since April 12, the Chinese Professional Baseball League will soon be allowing spectators back into the seats. The Fubon Guardians of the CBPL, which plays in Taiwan, said that up to 1,000 fans will be admitted to games starting on May 8, provided they sit an appropriate distance apart. The five CBPL stadiums have capacities of between 10,000 and 20,000 seats, some of which have been occupied by cardboard cutouts and robot mannequins.

German fans aren’t so lucky, as Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the restart of the Bundesliga will be pushed back to at least May 22 from a planned date of May 15. The top-flight German division was expected to be the first major league to return, and its delay portends “an ominous sign for European football.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s Premier League will return to action May 30 without fans, more than two months after it halted play.

As for in the United States:

• The NBA is set to reopen practice facilities on May 8 in states where stay-at-home guidelines are easing, with no more than four players at a time and no coaches.
• Some MLS teams announced they’ll return to small-group sessions this week, with the USL allowing small groups on May 11. The NWSL allowed players to return to outdoor fields on Wednesday.
• The Premier Lacrosse League said it will play its entire season in a two-week, quarantined tournament from July 25 to August 9.
• The NFL sent a memo to teams detailing guidelines for the potential to reopen facilities as soon as May 15th.

As Endeavor continues to find its footing following an unsuccessful IPO in September 2019 and the business impact of the coronavirus pandemic, it is looking to sell its minority stake in video game developer Epic Games, according to The Information.

The sale could net Endeavor upwards of $100M, which would be a much needed boost for the company. Last month, Endeavor announced its plans for a series of layoffs and furloughs that would affect roughly one-third of its 7,500 employees worldwide.

It is also reportedly trying to raise $250M that will go toward basic company functions, such as payroll and rent, according to the New York Post. Endeavor and WME IMG have taken credit rating and outlook dings from S&P Global and Moody’s Investors Services in recent weeks.

Epic Games, best known as the publisher of Fortnite, is in the midst of trying to raise money at a $15B valuation. While the popularity of that game has slightly waned, the company announced it has now eclipsed more than 350M registered players. In April alone, Fortnite gamers played more than 3.2B total hours. Last month, rapper Travis Scott hosted a concert within the game drawing more than 12M concurrent players.

While the entire sports industry is significantly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, the $19.2B youth sports segment in the U.S is getting hit particularly hard. Last week, Little League International was forced to cancel its world series events for the first time in the organization’s 75-year history.

To ensure that the youth sports infrastructure survives, the PLAY Sports Coalition is working to secure $8.5B from Congress through an extension of the CARES Act. The coalition is made up of more than 400 youth sports organizations and has received bipartisan congressional support. Without quick action, many of the country’s youth organizations could be driven to bankruptcy and potentially close permanently.

Following the 2008 financial crisis, participation of 6 to 12-year-olds in team sports fell from 45% to 38% in 2014, according to the New York Times. A recent Aspen Institute for Sports study suggested that 60% of youth sports organizations expect to lose at least 50% of revenue over the next year. As states begin to reopen, some are looking to start up youth sports quickly including Kansas, Idaho, and West Virginia.

More than a year ago, Papa John’s paid Shaquille O’Neal $4.1M and gave him 90,000 shares of stock to endorse the brand, become a board member, and own nine stores as a franchisee. The pizza company recently reported a same-store sales jump of almost 27%, making Shaq’s stock holding alone worth $7M, according to Darren Rovell. 

If his The General Car Insurance commercials are any indication, Shaq is everywhere and Papa John’s is just a portion of his retirement portfolio. The TNT analyst, who made $300M during his playing career, is raking in cash through dozens of investments. 

Some of his more notable holdings, according to Money: 

• 17 Auntie Anne’s Pretzels franchises
• 40 24-Hour Fitness gyms
• 150 car washes
• 155 Five Guys locations – though he has since sold them
• A Big Chicken restaurant in Las Vegas
• Early stakes in Google and Apple
• Early investor in Ring, which sold to Amazon for $1B
• Sacramento Kings minority ownership