Blog Post 1
Tyson Swope
American Politics
Dr. Jenkins
March 3, 2022
Blog Post 1
Clearly life as we knew it has completely changed around the world since the Covid-19 pandemic. As we have been living in a carefree world for the past couple of months since the latest spike, event planners have had no time to rest with March Madness just around the corner. March Madness is a huge collegiate basketball tournament held annually. There are sixty-seven games played in three weeks. In 2019, the National Collegiate Athlete Association (NCAA) brought in around one point five billion dollars from this event alone. This is roughly ninety percent of their annual revenue. With this being said, the NCAA could not afford to lose this type of revenue three straight years in a row. In 2020 the tournament began and was cancelled after the first few games. This past year the NCAA made it possible to get the real life feeling of being courtside from sitting on your couch. This approach made it safer for the players, coaches, fans, and everyone else. However, there is one big question that lingers around this year’s tournament. How will the NCAA keep the players, coaches, fans, and everyone else involved safe during these games, and what is the cost they are willing to give up doing so?
First and foremost, the limit on fans is the first things the NCAA must account for to keep people safe. I would suggest limiting the number of people that can be in attendance per player. This is going to be completely different from what these teams have been experiencing. Many teams around the country have been playing with sold out crowds cheering them on all the way throughout this whole season. One cannot put into words what a sold-out crowd does for each team. A crowd can help you maintain momentum when you are on fire, or when you are down the crowd may be the one spark of energy you need to keep your head up and fight to get back into the game and potentially win. The atmosphere of these collegiate basketball games is at stake. Along with the atmosphere that will be lost by limiting the number of fans that can attend, the amount of revenue that is generated by fans is at stake. The NCAA took a major financial loss last year by broadcasting all the games, housing the teams, feeding the teams, and testing everyone without the funds from the endless amounts of fans. To put this into perspective, there are eight hundred sixty-seven point five million dollars from marketing and television broadcasting on the line for this year’s NCAA tournament. Not only did the NCAA take a huge financial loss, but the cities which hosted the games also took a loss. Cities make a large portion of their money from tourists, and when a city is hosting this tournament they are expecting the money that tourists bring in. Hotels, restaurants, and museums are all counting on these tourists to help bring in revenue to help them through these rough past couple years. By limiting the number of fans that are allowed to be in attendance at the games you are also limiting the amount of people that are likely to come to the city and spend money to watch their children, family, or favorite team have a chance to compete for the national title in collegiate basketball.
Next, I would suggest trying to replicate the NBA and Olympics by creating a “bubble” to keep players and staff safe and free from Covid-19. This have proven to be effective in the past. The imaginary bubble could consist of a limited number of hotels to host all the teams and event staff, transportation that will only be used by participants, and regular covid testing. In order to be eligible to get inside the bubble, each team is required to show proof of negative covid tests for seven straight days. Other protocols that I would suggest for this event include the following: 1) two-day isolation or quarantine before being allowed to practice or meet with the team, 2) covid testing every day, and 3) no socializing with family or friends who are coming to support them at the games. I would make these recommendations to the NCAA to ensure the safety of everyone in attendance. The NCAA, the city hosting the tournament, and surrounding cities would be taking a big hit financially in an effort to keep everyone safe. But how is this effecting the players? These athletes are still students who are having the stress of mid-terms, and now the stress to do everything perfectly in hopes of keeping their team from being disqualified. The players are also not going to get to experience the full effect of the NCAA basketball tournament and their relentless hard work all year. With the stakes extremely high considering the health of the players and others involved, the financial loss of limited attendance, the additional costs of creating a bubble, and the mental toll on the players, I believe this is the best way to maximize the ability of the teams while minimizing the risks of the players and everyone involved.