How Will Sports Resume?

[Joe Beamish]

^ The fear will mitigate. It always does. I don’t see any of it here in Texas.

[Steve DeRosa]

NHRA is planning to resume National Events in June, with select regional events starting in mid-May; in the meantime, here's how one of the better-known teams is using its engineering/design talents and expertise to assist our front-line personnel during the current health crisis:

https://www.nhra.com/news/2020/behin...inting-program

[fumei]

I never go to professional sporting events. It just offends me that someone makes millions of dollars to swing a bat/shoot a puck/catch a football. I do enjoy watching sports though. So I restrict my personal interaction to local sports. Frankly, if all the major leagues die, I would not shed even the tiniest tear.

[robj144]

Originally Posted by fumei

I never go to professional sporting events. It just offends me that someone makes millions of dollars to swing a bat/shoot a puck/catch a football. I do enjoy watching sports though. So I restrict my personal interaction to local sports. Frankly, if all the major leagues die, I would not shed even the tiniest tear.

Yes, but sports contribute a lot to local economies and if they died, it would hurt a lot of people besides the sports. That's why the athletes get paid so much. And, pro athletes are like the top 0.1% of their "professions" as well. So, it's not like anyone can do what they do.

[1neeto]

Originally Posted by fumei

I never go to professional sporting events. It just offends me that someone makes millions of dollars to swing a bat/shoot a puck/catch a football. I do enjoy watching sports though. So I restrict my personal interaction to local sports. Frankly, if all the major leagues die, I would not shed even the tiniest tear.

If it was that easy to compete at that level, you’d be making those millions too.

[RP]

Originally Posted by fumei

I never go to professional sporting events. It just offends me that someone makes millions of dollars to swing a bat/shoot a puck/catch a football. I do enjoy watching sports though. So I restrict my personal interaction to local sports. Frankly, if all the major leagues die, I would not shed even the tiniest tear.

I understand that thinking...

Originally Posted by robj144

Yes, but sports contribute a lot to local economies and if they died, it would hurt a lot of people besides the sports. That's why the athletes get paid so much. And, pro athletes are like the top 0.1% of their "professions" as well. So, it's not like anyone can do what they do.

I also understand that thinking. I'm old enough to remember when professional sports were played at a lower economic level, but as the money has piled up in and around the playing field, the economic reality has become increasingly valid as a justification.

Originally Posted by 1neeto

If it was that easy to compete at that level, you’d be making those millions too.

I don't think fumei was saying that it was easy, just that all the money pouring into professional sports has served to detract from the game for him/her....

[buddyhu]

Originally Posted by fumei

I never go to professional sporting events. It just offends me that someone makes millions of dollars to swing a bat/shoot a puck/catch a football. I do enjoy watching sports though. So I restrict my personal interaction to local sports. Frankly, if all the major leagues die, I would not shed even the tiniest tear.

I used to enjoy watching sports, but my enjoyment has declined over the years, for a variety of reasons, including the effects of big money.

I can imagine pro and college sports being reshaped by this crisis in ways that I would appreciate. I can also imagine things continuing on down the same (and, for me, discouraging)path.

I do think the topography of spectator sports will be changing rather dramatically for the next couple of years, or more. What has been a relatively carefree outing for everyone will be an arena of concern for many who have regular contact with folks who are at risk (the elderly, those with compromised lung function including asthma, those with compromised immune systems, those with diabetes, those with heart conditions). That will reduce crowd sizes even if large gatherings become “safe enough” for the younger and healthier members of society.

[woodbox]

Professional sports and “live” music are graphic indicators of our societal priorities.
The amounts of money that our entertainment generate is staggering, and the financial tentacles of those industries are long and far reaching.

One can focus on the lucrative salaries of the relatively few players (sports or music) at the top of their particular food chain,
and theorize how that might change in the future.
But then there’s the support staff.

The beer truck driver, who is laid off .. cuz there’s no game or concert, and the taverns are closed too.
The gas tax not paid into local municipalities cuz the trucks aren’t moving as much.
The tires that won’t need replaced as soon, so Firestone cuts production.
And on down the line.

Talking about the professional sports situation is as good as any place to have a discussion.

“Oh, it’ll come back.“

I have my serious doubts.
The economic impact of this is not going away anytime soon.

[Otterhound]

I will always find it amusing that so many can't understand the difference between sport and a game .

[Dru Edwards]

Hey Tom, I agree with the tv viewers and empty stands. Watching a sporting event on tv without hearing the crowd doesn't get me up in my seat.

I was thinking I should work on an app that mimics crowd noise based on the game actions, i.e. a goal results in lots of response whereas a great save gives the "ohhh" factor. And then, of course, sell it to the tv networks .

Originally Posted by Acousticado

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”) .

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.

[The Watchman]

The way they're talking about starting up Major League Baseball, is to have all the teams play (in Arizona) with all the players, coaches, staff, etc., isolated in dedicated hotels. Food catered in and regular testing. That way they can be isolated from the public. Not very sporting.

Sure, the same arguments about excess salaries for musicians, pro sports, and movie stars are all true, but the market for entertainment says otherwise. I didn't realize how much I would miss baseball even if I think they're overpaid.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by The Watchman

The way they're talking about starting up Major League Baseball, is to have all the teams play (in Arizona) with all the players, coaches, staff, etc., isolated in dedicated hotels. Food catered in and regular testing. That way they can be isolated from the public. Not very sporting.

Sure, the same arguments about excess salaries for musicians, pro sports, and movie stars are all true, but the market for entertainment says otherwise. I didn't realize how much I would miss baseball even if I think they're overpaid.

I read a new proposal yesterday ... all MLB teams would play in their minor league stadiums in FL or AZ. Divisional realignment to 4 divisions to avoid travel. So, Red Sox would be in a different division than the Yankees or Blue Jays because they play in a different area of Florida.

Players aren't warming up to the idea because it means being away from your family for 4 months and some players are expecting child births.

[AmericanEagle]

I hope they have an NFL season.
I need my New England Patriots, even without Tom Brady!

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Joe Beamish

Maybe, but memory is so short. “Nine eleven” will always refer to the 2001 attacks. But aside from the name, things tend to normalize.

I do wonder if people will stop hugging each other. Except for families and lovers. That would be nice. I really hate hugging.

Originally Posted by Otterhound

I agree .
Fear alters things in strange ways and fear is what this is all about .
Normal has changed dramatically with this single incident . Good or bad , it has changed .
Look at how Bubonic Plague changed the affected world . I'm not referring to the numbers of people . I am referring to personal actions on a small and large scale .
You want an unnatural event . Gas changed the world as we know it after WWI .
Hiroshima and Nagasaki changed the world .
Fear drove all of them and it is driving this one .

Humm. Well yes and no. Looks like rather polar views of the same coin.

Yes: things change that is the nature of the universe and existence.
Yes :after certain dramatic events things get upended and then settle.
No: "Normalize" just means SOP -standard operating practice/procedure, not unchanged .
No :"Fear" is not what "this is all about"
No : "Fear" is quite different than reasoned caution.


Back to the OP,, I don't know what will happen short term, but I am guessing eventually stadiums and arenas will refill.

[aknow]

I would hope some have learned how much time, $, and thought is wasted on sports. I really hope if there's massive unemployment, it extends to sports announcers and Anal--ysts.
I'll enjoy my life if sports can persist without the constant discussion of millionaires under-deserved salaries.

I'd like to see pro athletes paid as they were in the 1950's, and anonymously.

On an amateur level, sports can be a wonderful guiding light for kids to emulate. The professional level is a whole different thing.