Written by Daniel Ben
It is 2020, and for the first time in history, the Olympics has been suspended and moved to the following year. The UAAP crowned its season 82 general champion without finishing some of its sports. Soccer, basketball, and every sport around the world is affected by the pandemic. Though at present, many sports have resumed their regular operations, with safety concerns and the need for social distancing, the industry has gone through being put to a halt.
With that, the new normal we talk about so often is necessary for many aspects in our lives, and that includes how we see sports.
Changes to major sport leagues
When the Bundesliga returned to action in May 2020, it did so with empty stadiums and strict restrictions. It was the first top-flight European soccer league that resumed play since the COVID-19 lockdowns and became a model for how other leagues could follow.
Players and staff were in a quarantine bubble in hotels, tested regularly, and limited outside contact. Teams arrived at stadiums with several buses to ensure social distancing and everyone entering the premises had to be temperature checked. On the bench, substitutes had to sit on the stands to keep a 2-meter distance from each other.
"There is no noise. You shoot at the goal, you make a great pass, you score, and nothing happens. It's very, very weird," Dortmund coach Lucien Favre told BBC.
This bubble league will also be implemented by the NBA. After the state of Florida announced that sports were considered an “essential service,” the NBA decided to finish its season there. It will be playing in Disney World in Orlando beginning July 30, quarantined in the theme park hotels.
A temporary shift to virtual sports
It isn’t a surprise that attention has shifted to esports.
Last March 20, 2020, Formula 1 (F1) announced that Grand Prix races would be replaced with virtual ones. These races ran on the F1 social media channels and satisfied the cravings of motorsport fans. F1 revealed that its final virtual race last June 14 garnered 30 million views across TV and digital platforms. NASCAR and IndyCar followed with virtual tourneys of their own.
On the contrary, this isn’t specific to motorsports. Twitch, the go-to place to watch esports, has increased average viewership by 65% from March to April and has been in a plateau since. People stuck in their homes took to watching pros play games like League of Legends and Counter-Strike.
“Sports are out and something needs to fill that void. I think esports is perfect to fill that void because of the ability to play online competitions,” Chance “Maux” Moncivaez, a professional Call of Duty: Modern Warfare player, told TIME.
This is not to say that the coronavirus does not affect the esports community. Stadium matches are a staple in esports. The Overwatch League held in Madison Square Garden was suspended last March, affecting ticket and merchandise revenue. Unlike most major sports leagues, however, they had the option to revert to online play.
While this newfound interest might just be temporary, one can’t deny that there is a craving for sports that people are fulfilling through online means.
The struggle of athletes
While fans have found a substitute for traditional sports, the pandemic left many athletes and sports employees struggling.
Manolito 'Tolitz' Divina is a 2019 SEA Games medalist, winning gold for the team assist 400-meter obstacle race. His other achievements include placing first in 2015 North Face Singapore 50K, 2016 Ultra Trail Hong Kong 156K, 2015 Pilipinas Mountain Series 32K, and winning the Clark-Miyamit 50 Miles trail race twice.
Besides being an athlete, he worked as a coach in a gym. The gym he worked at, however, was forced to release some of its employees, due to the implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine, including him. A father to five children, he then turned to motorcycle delivery as a source of income.
“Okay naman po ang pag-deliver ko kasi pakisuyo lang naman po ito, hindi pwersado, tama lang pantawid sa pamilya ko. Malaking bagay ito sa akin at sa pamilya ko. Hindi naman kami may kaya para mamili ng trabaho, basta patas at marangal, gagawin ko 'yan,” Divina told GMA News.
Divina is only one of many sports workers whose lives have been upended. Coaches, gym trainers, clerks—they are all among the 7.3 million Filipino workers who’ve lost their jobs amid this pandemic.
“Ang tumatak sa isip ko ay hindi kailangan iasa lahat sa ibang tao o sa gobyerno ang buhay ng pamilya mo, lalo na sa ganitong krisis,” Divina said.
Despite these difficulties, we can see that sports is making its way back, with UAAP resuming as well as other big sports events around the world like NBA and the Olympics. All of these have been enthusiastically received by fans, who have proven to have waited long enough for the return of their beloved sports.
Comentários