I got thinking about it-—maybe if it’s open to the public free speech applies.
Who knows?
All I do know is that the the country is unrecognizable.
.
If it’s open to the public, free speech subject to reasonable regulation as to location and manner may apply (to the fans as well as the players), but it’s still true that a person on the clock may not publically disparage or cause harm to his employer’s interests while claiming First Amendment protection.
If you work for Pfizer and are sent to a scientific conference at Harvard Medical School, and you decide to set up a soapbox on Longwood Avenue to denounce drug pricing, the police can’t arrest you for content (First Amendment), but you won’t be a Pfizer employee when the sun goes down.
Of course it is true that with the courts mostly with the #resistance, they could very well rule that the players have 1st A rights superior to the interests of their employers.