How Will Sports Resume?
 

What will it look like when sports resume? I'm thinking NHL, NBA, MLB, and then NFL, college sports, etc. There are also the more individual sports with fans in attendance as well such as golf, tennis, auto racing, etc. And of course sports across the world like European soccer.

I've been reading a lot of articles about the NHL, NBA, and MLB looking at the possibility of playing all their games in a specific city or area to avoid travel ... with perhaps no fans.

Sports is an important to many of us but it definitely takes a back seat in today's climate and deservedly so. Hoping that the NHL and NBA can conclude their season though, however that may look.

Your thoughts?

Norway is about to open sports events again. New Zealand may be next, with 1 death and coming out of an airtight lockdown.

In North America, who knows. Lets' pray that we are Norway!

At first, games in empty stadiums, but televised. I think that might be the case through the early Fall at least.

Don't have a clue but I bet it'll be interesting.

Fits and starts. XFL has ceased operations and is laying off most of its employees.


Bob

Some friends and I have been having that "What's the new normal going to be?" conversations.

One of the things I'm certain of is that we will realize just how unimportant professional, and by extension college, sports are.

I think what we'll end up seeing is profoundly depressed attendance once seasons do start back up and, as a result, change will come. I just don't think the attendance won't be there to support the multi-million dollar player salaries, $9 hot dogs and $15 beers as it has in the past, and something will have to give.

The public at large will, I think, put the whole "professional sports" thing into perspective and seriously consider where it falls on the importance scale of life. I've already decided not to renew my Jaguars season tickets (they pretty much suck anyway), and will spend that money on things that actually matter. I know more than a few people who've made the same decision.

I'm not saying that pro sports will go away. But I do think that people will start to reconsider how willing they are to drop $600 for a family of four to go to a football game.

If nothing else, this time that we spend being forced to entertain ourselves will show us that we, in fact, can entertain ourselves and that we can do it without spending piles of money. Once that's done, we're going to reprioritize exactly what's important and what we thought was important...

Interesting to read you saying this. I was raised with the idea of making your own fun. My dad felt that if we were interested in some sport, we should go out and play it rather than watching somebody else do it. In short - get involved in the things we were interested in. A lot of folks, when I say that, think it is completely weird, yet it seems so obvious to me.

That said, I hope that for those who really do want to watch sports, they can still get their fill after all this is over. :)

Tony

Well, even if they resume with no fans, every single player, coach, assistant coach, and ref needs to be tested first and tested constantly. Maybe we'll have the antibody test though to help.

It's still iffy though because even if they do the antibody test and a majority of players never had Covid they could catch it between tests and then transmit it to the rest of the team and the families of the team.

I doubt many sports fans before this feel that way at all. Most of my friends and I are sports nuts. All of us cannot wait until sports starts again. I'm thinking we are in no way unique either.

CoffeeFan: Your take is very interesting. I'm not in touch with group-think (except on AGF), and I'm not as convinced that folks will use this time of abstinence as time for thoughtful contemplation. Personally I think that folks will flock back to their former passions and spending habits like our ancestors flocked to alcohol consumption after Prohibition, unless of course their economic situation has been severely affected by the current shutdown. If one has managed to crawl across the desert with little water, the impulse when you reach civilization is to binge on water...

How Will Sports Resume?
 

Slowly, but surely.

...and don't call me Shirley...



Sooner or later, somebody would have done it. :)

Tony

I suspect that the vast majority of sports fans will eventually feel confident to get back to attending the live pro sports they crave...yes, crave. Imo, that’s going to take mass testing. I do hope that there is a substantial downward adjustment to the cost to get bums back in the seats. I think that is inevitable.

I love watching many forms of pro sports on TV. However, if pro teams play to empty stands, it will seem quite strange for viewers. The relative silence would be weird. To have any sound at all, we’d have to listen to players grunts, groans, cussing, etc. that we normally don’t hear, which I believe would have a negative impact on viewership. Promoters may need to resort to “fan tracks” (akin to sitcom “laugh track”) ;):D.

Personally, I don’t think anything other than returning to “normal” will work...at greatly reduced cost at least for a time where all involved are just going to have to suck it up despite contracts.

My thoughts as well. I think players are going to have to consider taking significant pay cuts for a couple of years. Roughly 50% of NHL revenue comes from gate receipts. No fans, 50% less revenue. I believe less so for MLB, NBA, NFL because their tv contracts are more lucrative.

Everything will come back, in stages. Once there’s a vaccine, there will be no difference. In five to 10 years, this will be an increasingly dim and grim memory. Like 9/11. That’s my guess, anyway.