There is no doubt that the deadly Coronavirus infection that swept across the world in early 2020 and continues to remain in the middle of 2021 has had a huge impact on the way the world is and will likely be in the near future.
The entire world’s population have had to change the way they live and have all had to make sacrifices that many would have thought unimaginable at times, whilst businesses have all had to struggle to cope, with many having had the heart-breaking realisation that they needed to stop operations as they could no longer sustain operations.
The sports industry is another that has felt the impact of COVID in the past, with US sports one such sector that has felt the impact strongly.
Admittedly, sports have since returned to near-normality in many parts of the world, although full attendances are still something that is not quite as prevalent in some countries as it is in others, however there appear to be some encouraging signs that things are rather positive, such as the fact that Colorado sports stadiums are lifting restrictions already according to gamblecolorado.com.
Indeed, that is a great thing for many of the American citizens, as sports continue to play a large role in their daily lives as it is a cultural thing and something that many are extremely passionate about.
However, there was not always a positive outlook on things; especially during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Sports viewership was actually down
In America, it would seem mad that sports viewership would be down during the outbreak of the deadly virus, however data found that this was the case.
Although there were plenty of events continuing to take place – albeit without fans in attendance at stadiums and venues – the viewership had declined. There are a number of different reasons as to why this may have happened, with many pointing to the fact that talking about sports is a social event in itself and with people unable to mix, there was less of a need to watch what was happening.
Despite the fact that the NFL, NHL, NBA, WNBA and top Golf competitions all took place, as well as horse racing events and other sports, there simply appeared to be less interest in watching them on TV. It could, though, be argued that the decline was more down to the casual viewer rather than the sports-mad viewer, though.
US Sports not bringing in the same revenue
One of the biggest things that many will associate with the COVID outbreak – aside from the fatalities experienced – is the damage it did to the overall economy on a global scale. Almost every single person in the world will have been impacted in some way, which will have meant that less money was being spent.
In addition, sports teams were hit hard in the US as fans were unable to buy sports tickets or go to venues and buy merchandise or visit a food cart and purchase food and drink, therefore meaning less and less money was being generated by the organisation.
The lack of money will have had a huge impact on the US sports industry, as many would have been feeling the pinch, whilst it will have had a greater impact on the community that they are based within, as well. Sporting events have a huge impact on the local area, but with COVID, that impact will have been devastating.
