New York and Philadelphia sports teams postpone games because of smoke coming from Canadian wildfires

Professional sports teams scheduled to play in New York and Philadelphia on Wednesday have postponed games because of “poor air quality” caused by smoke from the Canadian wildfires. 

The air quality index has worsened so badly in recent days in New York City that it has among worst air pollution in the world, according to Swiss air quality technology company IQAir..The conditions prompted New York officials to put the city and surrounding areas under an air quality health advisory until 11:59 p.m. Wednesday – pushing local sports teams to reconsider playing their games. 

The New York Yankees rescheduled their Wednesday night game against the Chicago White Sox because of poor air quality, as images showed orange hazy skies over Yankee Stadium hours before the game was supposed to start. The teams will instead hold a doubleheader on Thursday afternoon. 

The WNBA’s New York Liberty said their game against the Minnesota Lynx set to be played indoors at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn indoors will be moved, with details to be provided at a later date. The National Women’s Soccer League announced the match between NJ/NY Gotham FC and Orlando Pride at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey was postponed. It will be played on August 9. 

“The safety of our players, officials and fans is our top priority,” a statement from the league said. “Following consultation with the NWSL Medical and Operations staff, it was determined that the match could not be safely conducted based on the projected air quality index.” 

The Philadelphia Phillies said they will move their Wednesday game against the Detroit Tigers to Thursday night. 

Over the past six weeks, massive wildfires have spread across Canada causing mass evacuations and burning through more than 3.3 million hectares of land — larger than the state of Maryland. This Canadian crisis has not been limited to the Great North. Smoke from the fires has spread across a large portion of the U.S., affecting air quality for millions across the East Coast.