How has COVID impacted sports?

Kanchan Roy.

The outbreak and spread of deadly coronavirus affected almost every sector. The most highly affected sectors are the sports and entertainment sector as they are not allowed to contest matches and premiers in the stadium and cinema halls respectively. According to the current scenario, it’s not possible to organize such an event until the people are not adopting the new normal lifestyle. People should indulge in themselves the habit of wearing masks, gloves, and maintenance of social distancing as a part of their life now.
Most of the sporting events are already suspended by national governments across the world. The International Olympic committee postponed the Tokyo Olympic game after seeing the deteriorating effect caused by the pandemic. In India, the most famous Indian premier league has been postponed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which is scheduled in October but now it will likely be postponed and supposed to be organized in the next year. The postponement of such events disheartened the fan but we need to understand right now it is best for all of us.
Most of the games are used to be played in the close stadium full of people crowd but now the players would be forced to play in front of empty stands. Even if the government might allow the people to watch live matches in the stadium then a limited audience will be there and not supposed to be Housefull to cheer up their favorite team.
Right now, at some places, the sporting activities have slowly begun it. The matches are being planned to be held in front of closed doors with the ban on public gathering until the 31st of August in Germany. Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League (CBPL) games are being played in front of dummy spectators carved out of cardboard sheets. This desperate move comes on the back of giving the players a sense of playing in front of their fans and making the game look better on the television.
Looking at the condition there would be a great disappointment for the spectators as they will not be allowed to witness live action at the stadium until the things settle down. They have to rely on the television or online streaming sites to watch the matches live. According to the report ‘Impact of COVID-19 on Revenues of World Cricket and Indian Sports’ authored by Sundar Raman, former COO of the IPL, cricket accounts for almost 85% of the Indian sports economy with IPL being a major contributor, while Football and Kabaddi are 2nd. The bulk of Indian sports revenue comes from broadcast and sponsorship, contributing 65% and 30% respectively while ticketing revenue accounts for only 5% unlike a lot of other markets. A very significant proportion of this 5% in ticketing revenue is also generated through ticket sales for IPL matches. Now all this will be very much affected due to pandemic as we have to maintain social distancing so revenue cannot be generated from buying tickets for the live matches.
The crisis caused by the COVID-19 too shall pass. Adapting to the new lifestyle is necessary as change is the only constant in our lives. We may expect some sporting actions to return in the next two-three months, with some modifications.