The NBA wants to be back in December. The NHL is aiming at games resuming in January. Baseball's spring training may begin in February, like normal.
They almost certainly won't be in bubbles if and when any or all of that happens.
But many of the lessons learned from being in some form of a bubble environment — where the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball each crowned a champion after finding a way to finish their seasons in most unusual circumstances — could apply to whatever the new definition of normal is for those and other sports.
A new set of rules are coming in just about every sport, almost all with enhanced health and safety in mind. If they work, games could return to arenas and stadiums with some fans in attendance sometime soon. Perhaps more importantly, they could also provide some common-sense solutions to virus issues in the real world.
"The testing isn't what made it successful, the testing sort of showed that it was successful," said NBA senior vice president David Weiss, who helped oversee all the health and safety efforts at the Walt Disney World bubble in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. "But the thing that made it successful in the first place was the adherence to all those protocols that most people can follow most of the time in their lives."
There was no magic bullet in the NBA or NHL bubbles: Masks were worn, hand sanitizing was stressed constantly and social distancing was required at all times.
The NBA had teams in the bubble for three months, with the Los Angeles Lakers winning that title. The NHL playoff bubble lasted 65 days, from the time teams arrived in Toronto and Edmonton, Alberta, until Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup. Officials from both leagues noted that mask, distancing and other protocols were still being followed strictly on the final day.
"It was unique," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said, "but hopefully a once-in-a-lifetime experience."