The sports world has grown rather dull over the past week thanks to the outbreak of coronavirus. Every major league that plays games in the spring has already suspended their season, and with fans forced to stay inside to avoid the outbreak, the distraction of sports is needed now more than ever. 

Fortunately, major sports leagues are doing what they can to help encourage fans to stay indoors. On Wednesday, the NFL released a statement saying that it would make its Game Pass service available for free to fans without setting a specific timeline for the offer. Game Pass includes, among other things, every NFL game from the past 11 seasons, original programming like "Hard Knocks" and "A Football Life," and access to the NFL's "All-22" footage, the camera angle that players and teams use to break down film. 

The NBA followed soon after. It revealed in a statement that it would make NBA League Pass available for free through April 22. League Pass is the NBA's equivalent to Game Pass, and with it comes access to every game played this season as well as a selection of classic games.

The evolving situation around the coronavirus has been challenging for everyone, and we hope that you are taking appropriate precautions to ensure that you and your family stay safe and healthy. We encourage you to visit NBA.com for additional information on how to protect yourself and your family during this unprecedented time.

Limiting social interactions is a critical way to minimize the spread of the virus, but staying home for long periods of time can be difficult. With the 2019-20 NBA season on hiatus, the NBA and Turner Sports are providing all fans with a free preview of NBA League Pass, the league's premium subscription-based product, until April 22. This complimentary offering will provide you with access to full length and condensed replays of all games from the 2019-20 season, as well as an expansive archive of classic games and content. You can redeem this free offer by signing into your NBA account through NBA.com or the NBA App on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Android mobile and tablet devices, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and other supported devices. Thank you and please stay safe.

Even hockey got in on the action with an announcement on Thursday that said starting on Friday, the league will make replays of all 2019-20 games available for free through April 30 via NHL.tv. The league will also make classic games available along with selected longform content, and they're showing content from the 2020 NHL Gaming World Championship

Per the release:

As the National Hockey League (NHL) community continues to practice social distancing and take all necessary precautions during this ever-changing time, the League will continue to help fans stay connected to the League's players and the game by providing access to unique content and archived games. Starting Friday, the NHL will serve fans with an increased offering of video, editorial and digital content on NHL.com, the NHL app and across the NHL's social channels on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok by providing fans access to an expansive selection of classic NHL games, longform content from the NHL Original Productions' vast library and free access to stream full replays of games from the 2019-20 regular season.

Worldwide efforts to keep people indoors in order to slow down the rate of coronavirus infections enough to prevent overwhelming health care systems have had mixed results so far. At the very least, sports fans who do commit to social distancing will now have a way to occupy their free time.