Impact of COVID-19 on the sports community
Damian Nytko
American Politics
Professor Jenkins
April 06, 2022
Impact of COVID-19 on the Sports Community
The world-wide COVID-19 pandemic struck the United States in March of 2020, and impacted everything in the most unbelievable way. As the pandemic struck, and people were desperate to help it come to an end, Covid safety protocols were introduced by the CDC. These protocols included social distancing, mask mandates, and limits to the amount of people allowed inside buildings at once. The pandemic and the restrictions that came with it had an impact on all sorts of different communities around the world, one of them being the sports community. The sports community was impacted in every way possible during the pandemic. Throughout the year of 2020, the year COVID-19 came into play, there was a rapid number of sporting events getting canceled or postponed indefinitely, on every level (high school, college, professional). Even the 2020 olympics got postponed, and they were held in 2021, as there was no way to allow the athletes to participate in their sport without breaking social distancing and other required Covid protocol.
The inability to allow athletes to play in a Covid safe manner prevented the sports from being played, which took a large toll on the economic side of sports. The postponing of events has prevented sports from making money from their in person and virtual viewership. As the pandemic went on, and passed the two weeks it was estimated to be limited to, professional sports teams knew they needed to work to find a way to bring sports back, and get their athletes playing again. The NBA and WNBA had all the athletes, coaches, and other necessary personnel isolated inside of bubbles in Walt Disney World in an effort to stop their spread of COVID-19. Once all the teams were completely free of Covid, games were allowed to be played and broadcasted, but still no live viewership. Some of the MLB teams allowed fans to pay and submit pictures to get a “fat head” of themselves placed on a seat in the stands. Although there was no money to be made from inside the stands, from ticket sales, concessions, or anything else, the teams were finding ways to get their athletes playing, and any amount of revenue rolling in.
As teams began coming back together to prepare for their Covid seasons, there were changes that were made. Athletes were required to wear masks during workouts, and during actual games. Entire teams were actually not allowed to work out together all at once, this was restricted, even with masks, due to the heavy breathing in an indoor facility. Team practices were limited to certain time frames in order to comply with the Covid regulation recommending to minimize time spent in close capacity with people you did not live with.Teams were also limited on the places they were allowed to travel, and when they did travel the teams had to account for the necessary isolation period, and enough time to get everyone tested for Covid-19.
Once Covid protocols were lessened for the athletes, the fans still received some restrictions on the amount of fans that could attend, mask mandates, and social distanced seating. These rules are regulations made coming to the events seem unenjoyable for some, and unachievable for others. Considering the large toll these protocols take on the sports community, its athletes, its revenue, and its fans, there needs to be a solution to this problem, and it needs to come soon. As with all other things Covid related, there are some people who still feel there should be strong protocol and regulations, and there are others who believe there should be nothing at all. The sports community has already been lifting its mandates and restrictions, saying fans are allowed to wear a mask if they feel the need to, but no one is required. As these mask mandates have been lifted, so have the restrictions against social distancing, and the limits placed on the total amount of attendees. Lifting the Covid restrictions, although making those who believe in stronger Covid regulations mad, is the only sustainable way the sports community can be okay. They were okay doing the isolation bubbles, and the “fat heads” in the stands for one season, but long term it is not sustainable. These solutions were meant to bring a sense of hope of normalcy back to the country more than they were meant to last as a long term supply of revenue. As time went on the sports team would eventually suffer from the drastic loss of money, as they would lose all the in-person revenue, but still have to pay the athletes and other staff members.