How might Covid impact sports longterm

[GIlman]

What do you think this pandemics impacts to the sporting world will be? When this is all behind us, do people rush back in and resume consuming sports like they did before? It seems likely live events may take a huge prolonged hit, will they recover?

What emerging trends do you see, it has been interesting to see the eSports version of car racing. It seems relatively well received, and visually is approaching the real thing. Maybe this the beginning of an esports boom.

More importantly what new trends and opportunities for entrepreneurs do you expect?

 

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[Peal]

My guess is most will recover, and some will become a distant memory.

And I think you're right, Esports are on the cusp of exploding. Schools are giving scholarships for Esports and pros are making a lot of money. CBS put together a great piece on that industry:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=box4SFtGvA0


As far as opportunities, sports betting is also on the cusp of becoming socially accepted. It seems to be following a similar path to the marijuana industry. Pot was stigmatized for much of the 20th century and is now considered "essential business" in many states. Slowly but surely, more and more states are coming around legalizing sports betting. A lot of financial traders are migrating to sports. There are plenty of opportunities to invest in new platforms, and you could even start a book of your own. If you're interested, there's a great podcast called "bettingpod." The host interviews some of the best bettors and bookmakers in the world. He broke down his thoughts on his conversations in this thread:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1245836837798674432

View: https://twitter.com/BettingPod/status/1245836837798674432

 

[SteveO]

People like their sports. I'm guessing that it will take a while but most will be back. They may take some hit but commercialization will continue to bring them lots of money.

 

[James90]

I'd tune in for an Esports Gran Turismo champion vs. Lewis Hamilton

 

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[Bearcorp]

Sports betting has been legal in Australia as long as I can remember. The big bookies, who have had nothing to lay bets on since sports shut down have been offering under/overs on the weather, what colour tie the PM is going to wear in his press conference, literally anything. The old saying "Australians would bet on 2 flies crawling up a wall" has never been more true!

Sport will come back in a big way, providing fans are allowed into the stadiums, but even then tv/online viewership will be up, at least in the short term. Long term, contact sports will continue to face issues and the need for further rule changes relating to CTE and other long term injuries.

I've always been a sports fan and a look forward to seeing the progression, when it comes to crowds for instance, watch an NFL game with the sound on, and the roar of 40,000 people when a major moment happens, adds a lot to the spectacle for those watching at home. My local football, AFL, played the first round of the season before closing down a few weeks ago to empty stadiums. Certainly wasn't the same as when there's a packed house. But if there are restrictions on crowds, I think fans will just be happy to watch it on tv again after the break.

Then look at something like golf, unless Tigers walking up the 18th fairway in the lead you hardly notice the crowd (ok a bit more than just that, cheers from incredible shots for instance but its usually polite golf claps anyway) nor does it play a big role in creating atmosphere for viewers at home, they could get going right away (providing its safe for volunteers, ground staff etc) and the spectacle would be fine.

 

[Bearcorp]

PGA Tour have announced a re-start date, June 8th, no spectators in attendance at this stage;

PGA TOUR announces schedule adjustments for remainder of 2019-20 FedExCup season, releases fall portion of 2020-21 PGA TOUR Regular Season schedule

With additional time needed to ensure PGA TOUR tournaments are staged in the most safe and responsible manner possible given the ongoing C0VlD-19 crisis, the PGA TOUR is announcing further schedule modifications for the remainder of the 2019-20 season, as well as plans for the opening portion of ...

www.pgatour.com

They must of read my post yesterday haha.

One thing that I will be interested in seeing is if there are any sports, or teams even, that don't survive this shut down. The NRL (Rugby League) in Australia asked for and were denied funding before they even announced the shut down, they will need to restart soon from a commercial point of view or the league and a number of their clubs will not survive. ARU (Rugby Union) has been mismanaged and losing money for years, and right before the virus they lost their only television deal in Australia, they could be in big trouble unless wealthy fans try and prop them up. I'm sure its similar in lots of sports around the place.

 

[GIlman]

PGA Tour have announced a re-start date, June 8th, no spectators in attendance at this stage;

PGA TOUR announces schedule adjustments for remainder of 2019-20 FedExCup season, releases fall portion of 2020-21 PGA TOUR Regular Season schedule

With additional time needed to ensure PGA TOUR tournaments are staged in the most safe and responsible manner possible given the ongoing C0VlD-19 crisis, the PGA TOUR is announcing further schedule modifications for the remainder of the 2019-20 season, as well as plans for the opening portion of ...

www.pgatour.com

They must of read my post yesterday haha.

One thing that I will be interested in seeing is if there are any sports, or teams even, that don't survive this shut down. The NRL (Rugby League) in Australia asked for and were denied funding before they even announced the shut down, they will need to restart soon from a commercial point of view or the league and a number of their clubs will not survive. ARU (Rugby Union) has been mismanaged and losing money for years, and right before the virus they lost their only television deal in Australia, they could be in big trouble unless wealthy fans try and prop them up. I'm sure its similar in lots of sports around the place.

I have a hard time seeing them filling stadiums for a couple years. The sports themselves will still be valued, but I am kinda thinking the paradigm of consumption may dramatically shift. Maybe this will be the beginning of a real VR revolution.

 

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[Bearcorp]

I have a hard time seeing them filling stadiums for a couple years. The sports themselves will still be valued, but I am kinda thinking the paradigm of consumption may dramatically shift. Maybe this will be the beginning of a real VR revolution.

Yep can see that playing out, AFL have already discussed using fake crowd noise to match what's happening on the field for instance.

And using the car racing example mentioned earlier, if drivers are in simulators, fans visually see a similar experience race wise, it would save a ton of money on maintaining the vehicles, reduce pollution, be safer from drivers (no life threatening crashes)... Purists won't like it, not being in attendance, hearing and feeling the rumble of a petrol fuelled engine, but they might not have a say if crowds are banned anyway.

 

[Bearcorp]

I can see sports doing a stop start over the next 6 months or so, maybe even until there's a vaccine? PGA Tour for example, will only take 1 person, either a player/caddie/ground staff/volunteer to get the virus and it will completely shut down again.