COVID-19 has had a massive impact on the world as a whole. It’s certainly changed the future of sports and definitely not for the better. From fake or empty crowds to delayed and canceled events, it’s difficult to see sports getting back to normal anytime soon. However, that doesn’t mean that they are no longer enjoyable. Indeed, there are still numerous ways to enjoy your favorite sports. But for now, let’s take a look at some of the most drastic changes to this industry and the pastimes that we love. 

A Commitment To Safety 

One of the most positive impacts that COVID-19 has had on the sporting world is that there does seem to be a massive commitment to safety. Big bosses are focused on protecting everyone from the players to the fans and of course the investors. This is certainly true if you look at how the NBA is now being managed. NBA players currently exist in a bubble that is based in Disney World of all places. The bubble ensures that players remain safe and that they can continue the season without the risk of passing on the virus. This process hasn’t gone completely smoothly but it’s certainly not the disaster that it could have been. It does seem as though other sports events will follow this same method to keep players safe in the future. 

The NBA also managed to gain access to rapid testing kits before anyone else in the country. While this was controversial, this is a private corporation. If they want to pay the high price, there’s no reason why they can’t access options such as this to protect their business. 

Virtual Crowds

One of the most unintentionally amusing moments during the early days of the COVID crisis was certainly when the WWE events continued without a single person in the crowds. Most people are aware that the wrestling tournament is fake and largely scripted. However, without the crowd, this certainly brought that realization to the forefront of most people’s minds. It was impossible to take it seriously without the whoops and cheers of the crowd. Many wrestlers expressed their dismay that matches would continue and this wasn’t even the first controversy of the year for the hugely popular piece of sports entertainment. You can view the empty display on www.youtube.com.

In other events, virtual crowds were used. Here massive cutouts and digital replicas of people were added to the stands for events. This has led to some incredible feats with an entire section bought out in one stadium to display the full town of South Park. It’s clear that the way sports bosses are dealing with a lack of crowds is helping the general public unlock the fun of the situation. 

Delayed Events 

There have already been a lot of delayed events due to the coronavirus pandemic and more are likely still to come. One of the biggest events to be delayed is certainly the Euro 2020. Weirdly, the 2020 event will now take place in 2021. However, if you’re interested in reading up, there are already predictions on who is going to come out on top. You can find out more about this at www.pledgesports.org. The Olympics was also delayed. It took a while for bosses to realize that these steps were necessary. However, when one event was delayed the rest soon began to follow. It was like watching dominoes falling down around us. People have already questioned whether the Olympics will need to be delayed further into 2022 and this could be true for other events as well. However, the Japanese government has been adamant that the Olympics will not be delayed further. It will be interesting to see whether this does hold. Particularly, when right now, there’s no strong evidence that a vaccine will be available by the time the Olympics is supposed to take place next year. 

Ultimately, though these events can’t be delayed indefinitely. We do have to try can get back to some level of normalcy, preferably sooner rather than later. 

A Focus On Old Events

Of course, if you love watching sports on TV, one of the biggest changes that you will have noticed is that there’s now a heavier focus on replays of past sporting events. In many ways this move was obvious. If there aren’t many new matches to show, it makes sense for channels to show replays of the best matches ever played. Of course, this is only going to keep an audience happy and satisfied for so long. That’s another reason why things must return to normal. 

As well as old events, there has also been more of a focus on showing e-sports. If you haven’t heard of this, e-sports is essentially watching people compete on video games. This is actually the perfect event for a pandemic where people have to socially distance. Unlike other options, e-sports can be played completely remotely. You don’t have to be in the same room as the individuals you are competing against. Research also seems to suggest that the pandemic has made e-sports more popular and helped these tournaments find a larger audience, perhaps due to the drought of physical sports events. 

It’s clear then that the coronavirus pandemic has brought numerous changes to the world of sports. Some of these are certainly more difficult to come to terms with than others. The question now is what does the future hold for this industry and what will sports look like for the rest of the year and through to 2021. Right now at least, that remains uncertain. Currently, there is no sign that a vaccine is on the horizon which means that socially distancing measures will still need to remain in place. This could lead to further delays of massive sports events, despite claims to the contrary. It could also mean that the way we enjoy and watch sports has changed for the foreseeable future. But it’s certainly not going to stop us from enjoying sports completely. That is never going to happen, no matter what virus plagues the world.