The 2020 season was originally scheduled to begin on 20 March, with a break from 21 July to 13 August, for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
[1] On 26 February 2020, the league announced that its remaining spring training games would be held without fans in attendance, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.
[4] Following another league meeting on 9 March, commissioner Atsushi Saito stated that the 2020 season would be postponed until April.
[12] With the lifting of states of emergency over major Japanese cities, NPB announced that it would begin its regular season on 19 June behind closed doors.
[10] On 10 July NPB began allowing a limited number of fans to attend games, with plans to further ease restrictions in the near future.