Goldman 1

Jamie Goldman

ENC1102
11/15/2020
Coronavirus Impacts on the Sports Industry

Introduction

The Coronavirus pandemic has affected everyone in different ways, while also affecting society

as a whole. There has been much political controversy surrounding the virus and the protocols

we should or should not be implementing to stay safe, while also keeping the economy afloat and

strong. People, especially Americans, have always used sports as a kind of escape from the real

world. People could always put their worries aside for a few hours, and pile into a packed

stadium and sit and cheer on their hometown team. For those couple of hours, it doesn’t matter

what is going on outside the stadium. For just a few hours, people could put all of life’s stresses

and worries on the shelf and just enjoy themselves for a bit. Have a hot dog, sit back, relax, and

enjoy the game. For the first time in history this is no longer true on a global level. Yes, there

have been times where sports have been suspended, such as World War II, but even then leagues

were still staying afloat by using replacement players. The coronavirus pandemic has taken away

one of the most sacred American traditions. This is largely because for the first time in history

sports are part of the problem, not the solution. This is the first time in history it would seem

ignorant to go to a stadium or arena with 50,000 people. This obviously is affecting society as a

whole, but this is affecting three groups specifically: professional athletes and coaches,

spectators and fan access, and businesses that rely on sports to keep their businesses thriving.
 Goldman 2

Athletes and Coaches

March 11, 2020 was the day that the ball stopped bouncing. Utah Jazz center Rudy

Gobert tested positive for the virus and the NBA season was postponed indefinitely. It was

absolute mayhem for a while after that. Many other players and staff members around the league

also became infected and everyone wondered how (or if) they’d ever finish the season. A few

months went by, and all kinds of rumors began to circulate. Finally, in early July the NBA

approved a plan to finish the NBA season in a bubble format at the Walt Disney World campus

in Orlando, Florida. This meant that for the first time in NBA history, there would be no fans

attending any of the games. This was the most unprecedented thing in the history of the NBA in

my opinion. This was like nothing we’ve ever seen before. For all of history, sporting events

have always had fans, but like many other things in this wacky year of 2020, the NBA had to

adjust. The league rented out all of Disney's campus. They had 24/7 on site staff for the players

and coaches in the bubble. Things ranging as far as chefs, golf courses, fishing, video games,

swimming pools, etc. In such a short turnaround the NBA was able to manufacture a 5 star resort

for these players and coaches to live in while trying to compete for an NBA championship. That

is the beauty of sports. The show goes on. No matter what. The NBA bubble turned out to be a

huge success as they finished their season, and crowned an NBA champion, with zero positive

tests for COVID inside the NBA bubble. What’s interesting though, is what happens now.

Obviously the timeline of a traditional offseason and start date is out the window. Many

questions have been asked about when the next season will start, what free agency and the NBA

Draft is going to look like. Just a few weeks ago the NBA released a plan to have a December 22

start date to their season. This is crazy because of the huge range of offseason length. Teams like

the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers are going to have the shortest offseason in NBA history,
 Goldman 3

just 71 days off. When teams such as the Golden State Warriors and Chicago Bulls are going to

experience the longest NBA offseason in history at 285 days. This is because they were part of

the eight teams that failed to qualify for the NBA restart. They last played NBA basketball on

March 11 2020. This should put the Heat and Lakers at a bit of a disadvantage, as their fatigue

will be much higher than all other teams due to how short of a break they get. Lakers star

Anthony Davis and Heat legend Udonis Haslem expressed their displeasure with the record

setting short offseason on social media soon after the announcement.

The MLB had a bit of a different approach then the NBA did. They chose to allow teams

to play in their home stadiums during the 2020 season. No fans were allowed in any stadiums

though. Their season didn’t go quite as smoothly as the NBA restart did. Early in the season,

many members of the Miami Marlins organization became infected with the coronavirus and

they had to stop play for over a week. This was a long time to postpone games, especially in the

MLB considering they needed to play almost every day to complete their irregular 60 game

season. Opposed to a normal 162 game season that baseball fans are used to. Soon after this, the

virus hit the St. Louis Cardinals clubhouse as well. The MLB did a good job of handling the

situation though, as they did not let either outbreak spread to the rest of the league. They also did

a great job of rescheduling games ensuring that every team would end up playing the same

amount of games. For their playoffs, they took a page out of the NBAs book and implemented a

bubble format. The MLB bubble was a bit different due to the fact that they had multiple

bubbles. One in Texas, and one in California. Finally the season ended in the Texas bubble with

the Los Angeles Dodgers beating the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series. No word has gotten

out yet about what next season of MLB baseball will look like. WIll they go back to a normal
 Goldman 4

162 game schedule? Will they do another bubble playoff format? Will fans be allowed in

stadiums?

Fans and Spectator Access

Another very interesting controversial topic regarding the Coronavirus Pandemic and the

industry of sports is the issue of whether or not to allow fans in the stadiums. Every league has

taken a bit of a different approach to this. Obviously, the NBA chose to have no fans in their

bubble format to end the previous season, but they have not yet announced whether there will be

fans for the 2021 season or not. The Los Angeles Lakers have announced they will begin the

season with no fans. This does leave the door open to maybe allow fans in the Staples Center

later in the season. On the other hand, the state of Florida has allowed their stadiums to start

allowing fans. All college football and NFL teams in the state of Florida have had fans at limited

capacities this season. It makes more sense for a sort such as football to allow fans though. This

is mainly because the stadiums are so large and also outdoors, that it becomes easier to spread

fans out safely. Also, all fans that do attend low capacity sporting events have to follow safe

social distancing rules and have a mask on at all times. It’s unbelievable how fast things change.

Less than a year ago, someone wearing a mask at a sporting event would be looked at as

overprotective and even a bit odd, when today this is commonplace and in fact the only way fans

can be allowed into stadiums. The future of sports fandom has never looked so unclear.

This pandemic has so many negative effects in the sports industry beyond just playing the

game. For example, the NBA is estimated to lose upwards of $400 million due to the coronavirus

pandemic. A lot of the losses are due to the complete stop in ticket sales, while also paying for

all of the bubble amenities and land was very costly. The NBA will be fine, but expect the salary
 Goldman 5

cap to decrease rapidly over the next couple of seasons. Although the NBA did take a big hit, its

nothing like what the MLB is going to endure. The MLB is going to lose an estimated 8.3 billion

dollars due to the coronavirus pandemic and the shortened season. Every league is taking a hit

but nobody will lose money quite like the MLB.

Effects on Business (Big and Small)

Forget the big corporations for a second though. This will affect so many small

businesses and communities around many college and professional stadiums across America due

to the enormous loss of foot traffic and events that are sure to ensue. This is sure to affect

employees and businesses surrounding stadiums of professional and collegiate teams. For

example, growing up I would frequently go to Miami Marlins baseball games, my dad and I

would always park the car in people’s front and backyards who lived right outside the stadium.

Those people must have relied heavily on the Marlins games as a source of revenue every

summer, now that there’s no fans in pro baseball they have no choice but to lose all of that

revenue. Think about that for a second, those people would have at least 81 days/nights per year

where they would let 5-6 cars park on their land for a sum of money. Usually ranging somewhere

between $10-$30 per car. That’sa ton of revenue lost over the course of a year. The Marlins

example is just one on a long list of people going through the same type of struggles. So many

people are most likely going to lose their jobs due to this, and unfortunately many small business

owners will most likely lose their entire businesses. To put it bluntly, the local hot dog vendor is

screwed. These are just a few examples of the unfortunate results of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Conclusion
 Goldman 6

Bottom line is, no matter how you slice it, the industry of sports has been changed forever

because of this pandemic. Who knows when we will see stadiums rocking at full capacity again.

It’s very sad, but like all things we must adjust to the new safety procedures and protocols. The

bright side in all of this was how quickly each professional league figured out what to do. They

all devised a plan and resumed play as quickly and efficiently as possible. There’s no doubt in

my mind sports will one day return to normalcy, and full capacity. There’s no doubt in my mind

that American people will once again be able to go to the ballpark, or the arena and have a

couple beers sit back and cheer on their teams again. It may take several years, but I know we

will get there eventually. It’s the only way. It’s the American way.

Works Cited

Canova, Dan. “MLB's Debt at $8.3 Billion after Shortened 2020 Season during

Coronavirus Pandemic.” Fox Business, Fox Business, 27 Oct. 2020,

www.foxbusiness.com/sports/mlbs-debt-8-3-billion-2020-season-coronavirus.

Deb, Sopan, and Shauntel Lowe. “Timeline: A Year That Changed the N.B.A.” The New

York Times, The New York Times, 30 Sept. 2020,

www.nytimes.com/2020/09/30/sports/basketball/nba-season-covid-bubble.html.
 Goldman 7

Golliver, Ben. “Analysis | Coronavirus Could Cost NBA $1 Billion, Bring about Record

Salary Cap Drop.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 22 Mar. 2020,

www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/03/21/coronavirus-could-cost-nba-1-billion-bring-

about-record-salary-cap-drop/.

Pearl, Robert, M.D. “Coronavirus Poses 5 Huge Threats To The Future Of Sports.”

Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 25 Aug. 2020,

www.forbes.com/sites/robertpearl/2020/08/25/coronavirus-future-of-sports/?

sh=55f5578f792a.

Perry, Dayn. “Timeline of How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Impacted the 2020 Major

League Baseball Season.” CBSSports.com, 29 July 2020,

www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/timeline-of-how-the-covid-19-pandemic-has-impacted-the-

2020-major-league-baseball-season/.

Schuster, Elias is a writer for Bleacher Nation and a human being. You can follow him on

Twitter @Schuster_Elias. “NBA Reportedly Plans to Allow a Small Number of Fans into

Games Next Season: Bleacher Nation.” Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors,

and Obsession, 5 Nov. 2020, www.bleachernation.com/bulls/2020/11/05/nba-reportedly-

plans-to-allow-a-small-number-of-fans-into-games-next-season/.

Yashima Bhatia November, et al. “Lakers' Anthony Davis and Miami Heat Legend Express

Displeasure With NBA's Short Offseason.” EssentiallySports, 11 Nov. 2020,

www.essentiallysports.com/nba-news-lakers-anthony-davis-and-miami-heat-legend-

express-displeasure-with-nbas-short-offseason-basketball/.
Goldman 8