While the year hasn’t been what most expected, sports fans are having to turn to drastic measures so their love of sports can stay alive.
As many sports saw their season come to an end rather quickly at the start of COVID-19. The pandemic began to take over the world and it became known that the sporting world was going to take a dive for a few short months. While reruns became a huge counterpart to maintain a sport atmosphere it showed quickly that those reruns would not be enough to suffice the need for live sports in the world. Some fans coped with the stress of having no sports other than reruns and watching new documentaries made like the “Last Dance.” However, that was only one-way sports were kept alive and the need became more and more for live sports to come back.
Others turned to more creative measures as they engaged into Madden games and created the seasons on the video games as that was the only available option for a while during the pandemic. Esports has made the most out of the coronavirus pandemic as it pushed for more focus on the specific sports as for the time they are the most safe yet still entertaining way for gamers and sports fans to enjoy the time that they have.
Professional sports such as Nascar, Major League Baseball, and the National Basketball Association all had their own ways to take on the pandemic in order to keep their seasons alive. Nascar continued the season while not allowing any fans to their races. Both the MLB and NBA also had a no fans rule; however, the NBA went a step further in how they handled the safety and protection of their players, teams, and staff members. The NBA and Disney created a “bubble” in Orlando, Florida for the continuation of the NBA regular season and the NBA playoffs.
Even the National Football League took their own precautions in order to save their 2020 season. While the NFL did cancel the preseason games and held more strict training camps over the summer. They are still in hopes to start the regular scheduled football season on Thursday, Sept. 10 when the defending super bowl champions take on the Houston Texans. The regular NFL season will look different in the fan base than other sports because of the size of stadiums; some NFL teams are looking to minimize the number of fans allowed rather than not allow them at all.
While the sports world was hit by this pandemic, just like everything else, was in the world, it will take a lot more than COVID-19 to end the sports world’s run.