MLB won't seek 'essential business' exemption in Florida like WWE

Major League Baseball has no intention of asking the Florida government to declare it an "essential business" in hopes of playing games at Grapefruit League facilities in the near future, according to a statement made by the league to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

"MLB has been working diligently to plan for many different contingencies, and one of many ideas that has been discussed has been to play some of our games (in) Florida when the public health situation allows for it," the statement said.

"We are appreciative that (Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis) is open to playing games in Florida as one potential solution, but we all agree that such efforts can only be undertaken in a manner that does not endanger public health, nor the health of our players and fans. We will continue to be guided by those principles."

The league's statement follows a decision by DeSantis to afford the WWE an "essential business" exemption, allowing live pro wrestling events to take place in Orlando during the coronavirus pandemic.

Recently, MLB was reportedly considering beginning the 2020 regular season at spring training grounds in both Arizona and Florida - a plan that would necessitate some sort of divisional realignment.

However, a more recent report suggested the league wants to focus on playing solely in Arizona for the first two or three months before ideally returning teams to their home cities once it's safe for the remainder of the campaign.