Background
Since the advent of modern mass transportation, there have been accidents that killed all or nearly all members of various sports teams. The 1949 Torino Football Club had only one survivor following a plane crash. Two teams in the Canadian Football League lost players, returning from an all-star game, in the 1956 crash of Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810. Other incidents since then have involved the 1958 Manchester United football team, 1960 Cal Poly football team, 1960 Minneapolis Lakers basketball team (no fatalities), 1961 United States figure skating team, 1970 Wichita State University football team, 1970 Marshall University football team, 1977 University of Evansville basketball team, 1980 United States boxing team, 1993 Zambia national football team, 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team, 2016 Associação Chapecoense de Futebol team (Brasil), and the 2018 Humboldt Broncos ice hockey team (bus crash). As a result of these accidents, some professional sports leagues have developed disaster recovery plans should such an incident befall one or more of their teams.Special procedures
An affected team is expected to replace players using the minor leagues and by signing free agents.Eskenazi, Gerald.Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball's disaster plan is covered in Rule 29 of '' The Official Professional Baseball Rules Book''. The plan is triggered by an event causing the death, dismemberment, or permanent disability of at least five players from a team's active, injured, or suspended roster during a season (including the playoffs), or at least six players during the off-season. Major League Baseball's commissioner will decide if the disabled club can continue play, in consultation with the MLB Players' Association and the club. If the commissioner decides that the disabled club will continue to play, the commissioner may hold a Restocking Draft to allow the disabled club to select as many players as it lost, with the restriction that no more than one player can be selected from each team. Each of the non-disabled teams makes five players available for the draft taken from its active list (or if during the off-season, from its reserve list), composed of one pitcher, one catcher, one outfielder, one infielder, and one more player of any position, subject to adjustments by the commissioner based on the players lost by the disabled club. If a team has fewer than three eligible catchers, it does not have to provide a catcher to the draft. The non-disabled teams also are required to make available as many players with 60 or more days of Major League service time as of 31 August of the season preceding such draft as the number of such players lost by the disabled team. Any player with no-trade rights with regards to the disabled team may not be made available unless the player waives the right. If the commissioner decides that the disabled club cannot continue play, the commissioner will cancel the disabled club's season. The commissioner and Players' Association can also agree upon other appropriate relief for a disabled club. Major League Baseball's first expansion drafts of the early 1960s were based largely on the procedures first set out for the disaster draft.National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) contingency plan activates if five or more players on a team "die or are dismembered".Drehs, Wayne.National Football League
The National Football League (NFL)'s contingency plan provides for both a "near-disaster" and a "disaster". A "near-disaster" is defined as fewer than 15 players on a team being disabled, and a "disaster" is 15 or more. No special draft would be held for a "near-disaster"; the team would instead get preferential rights on any waivers until the end of the season.O'Keeffee, Michael.National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL) contingency plan activates if five or more players on a team "are killed or disabled". The team would select players from other NHL teams, paying with funds from a special insurance fund. Once its roster has one goaltender and 14 other players, a special draft involving the teams unaffected by the earlier selection could be held, with each team able to protect one goaltender and 10 other players.Major League Soccer
Within its roster regulations,Kontinental Hockey League
The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) contingency plan was implemented after theReferences