STrib: The sports fan experience might never be the same

[BleedGopher]

per Chris:

What happens next?

That’s if fans show up at all.

“I think you’re going to see a lot of arenas and stadiums less than half full,” said B.J. Schecter, a professor who teaches sports media at Seton Hall and formerly served as executive editor for Sports Illustrated. “I have two young boys and I’ve been in sports my whole life. I would have a lot of trepidation getting in those types of venues any time soon, even after we think we’re out at the other end of this.”

The only way, Schecter said, that the relationship between fans and sports returns to normal is with a vaccine, but a vaccine could be over a year away if and when it does arrive.

Even then, there promises to be certain psychological shifts in attitudes at sporting events, especially as it relates to interacting with other fans.

“You’re sitting in a packed stadium and somebody three seats down gets into a coughing fit, what are you going to think?” Schecter said. “ ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to get away from this person. This person could be sick and could infect me and everybody around me.’ We never really thought that way before. Yeah it was annoying on public transportation or airplane or a stadium. … Now it’s, ‘Is this person sick?’ Psychologically that’s a whole new thing.”

Some fans, like Cory Engelhardt of West St. Paul, would be hesitant about physical interaction with other fans.

“It’s sad, but the high-five or handshake might be a thing of the past,” Engelhardt said. “At least with strangers. I don’t see that changing in terms of my own family, but I don’t know that I see a lot of people offering up a high-five or a handshake again any time soon.”

The sports fan experience might never be the same

At some point in the future — perhaps in months, perhaps a year or more — it will be safe for fans to attend games again. But how will their behavior change?

www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[MplsGopher]

It's simply going to be a matter of what risk people are willing to accept.

If you go to an indoor place (restaurant, arena, etc.) you're putting yourself at the highest risk for getting infected. So basically the question is: are you willing to risk getting infected in order to enjoy those things?

Personally for me, I would be willing to risk it. Most likely, if I got sick, I would not even need to be hospitalized. But that's not true for everyone.

 

[Block M]

If there is a vaccine people will likely resume their normal attendance at sporting events. Until then; a lot of empty seats. Why risk getting sick as f#ck, for three weeks, with a small possibility of death, to watch a sporting event?

 

[MplsGopher]

Why risk getting sick as f#ck, for three weeks, with a small possibility of death, to watch a sporting event?

Why risk dying in a car accident, just to drive to watch a sporting event?

Like I said, it will be whatever risk tolerance people are willing to accept.

 

[Some guy]

This stuff is pretty overblown.
In 1918 adjusting for the increased population size the 1918 equivalent of 2020 3-4 million people died of Spanish flu.

The gophers canceled 3 football games.
By 1920 baseball stadiums were full again.

 

[underground629]

This stuff is pretty overblown.
In 1918 adjusting for the increased population size the 1918 equivalent of 2020 3-4 million people died of Spanish flu.

The gophers canceled 3 football games.
By 1920 baseball stadiums were full again.

You realize that the reason we don't have way more deaths is because the world has come to a standstill, right?

 

[Chico Gopher]

I brush and floss my teeth religiously. Went to the dentist and had no cavities. Obvious conclusion? Since I have no cavities, I've obviously been wasting a lot of time brushing and flossing my teeth.

 

[SelectionSunday]

Worrying about an arena that's only half filled currently isn't a problem for Gopher basketball. We're already there.

 

[Block M]

Why risk dying in a car accident, just to drive to watch a sporting event?

Like I said, it will be whatever risk tolerance people are willing to accept.

I don't drink and drive and wear my seat belt at all times, reducing my risk of death while driving to a level that is acceptable for me. As for the f#ckups that don't wear their seatbelts (50% of all driving-related deaths), it really does not affect me. Now the f#ckup who wont wear a mask in Walmart is a different story.

 

[MplsGopher]

I don't drink and drive and wear my seat belt at all times, reducing my risk of death while driving to a level that is acceptable for me. As for the f#ckups that don't wear their seatbelts (50% of all driving-related deaths), it really does not affect me. Now the f#ckup who wont wear a mask in Walmart is a different story.

What about the guy who decided to drive drunk that day, or the guy who refused to do any maintenance on his car causing it to fail while driving?

They slam into you, killing you, through no fault of your own, even though you did everything right.


It’s not a fair comparison, nor am I trying to make it as one. Again, I’m merely saying that each person’s risk tolerance is different, and perhaps more importantly that I think the perceived risk of harm from this pandemic is dwindling, for right or for wrong.

 

[Some guy]

You realize that the reason we don't have way more deaths is because the world has come to a standstill, right?

Yeah I do. Thanks for sharing with the group. Any way you slice it the death rates aren’t close to the Spanish Flu of 1918.
In 1918 the death rate among young healthy adults was high. Yet they filled the baseball stadiums less than 2 years later with no vaccine.

the purpose of my post was to say stadiums will be full again. Whether it is fall of 2020 or spring of 2023 is a question.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

I think the point is that some fans will be willing to come back as soon as the "all clear" is sounded - with or without a vaccine.

But, there will be other people who will not be willing to attend large-gathering events like games or concerts until there is a vaccine, or at least, an effective treatment for the virus.

And - as we saw with the "seat donation" fiasco with Gopher football - once you lose some fans, it's twice as hard to get them back.

anyone who was on the fence about the cost of tickets before covid now has a ready-made excuse to drop their tickets for good.

 

[Blackhammer]

Never is a long time. Two months of this and the narrative is handshakes are over and not wearing a mask is like smoking. The simple fact is we probably won’t ever have a 100 percent vaccine and this thing simply will have to run it’s course. With all the unknowns it’s let’s fill the headlines with possible worse case scenarios I guess .

 

[builtbadgers]

Purdue is opening it's campus to students for fall.

 

[McDobb4BB]

I believe I've seen the same reported for Iowa and Iowa State, both opening this fall.

 

[SelectionSunday]

Never is a long time. Two months of this and the narrative is handshakes are over and not wearing a mask is like smoking. The simple fact is we probably won’t ever have a 100 percent vaccine and this thing simply will have to run it’s course. With all the unknowns it’s let’s fill the headlines with possible worse case scenarios I guess .

Yep, I chuckle at the "no more handshakes, fist bumps, or bro hugs" crowd. Sure, for awhile we'll see a lot less of it, but time marches on, and we will, too. The end-of-the-world fear mongering will fade out eventually, and things will get back to normal.

 

[benlaur]

per Chris:

What happens next?

That’s if fans show up at all.

“I think you’re going to see a lot of arenas and stadiums less than half full,” said B.J. Schecter, a professor who teaches sports media at Seton Hall and formerly served as executive editor for Sports Illustrated. “I have two young boys and I’ve been in sports my whole life. I would have a lot of trepidation getting in those types of venues any time soon, even after we think we’re out at the other end of this.”

The only way, Schecter said, that the relationship between fans and sports returns to normal is with a vaccine, but a vaccine could be over a year away if and when it does arrive.

Even then, there promises to be certain psychological shifts in attitudes at sporting events, especially as it relates to interacting with other fans.

“You’re sitting in a packed stadium and somebody three seats down gets into a coughing fit, what are you going to think?” Schecter said. “ ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to get away from this person. This person could be sick and could infect me and everybody around me.’ We never really thought that way before. Yeah it was annoying on public transportation or airplane or a stadium. … Now it’s, ‘Is this person sick?’ Psychologically that’s a whole new thing.”

Some fans, like Cory Engelhardt of West St. Paul, would be hesitant about physical interaction with other fans.

“It’s sad, but the high-five or handshake might be a thing of the past,” Engelhardt said. “At least with strangers. I don’t see that changing in terms of my own family, but I don’t know that I see a lot of people offering up a high-five or a handshake again any time soon.”

The sports fan experience might never be the same

At some point in the future — perhaps in months, perhaps a year or more — it will be safe for fans to attend games again. But how will their behavior change?

www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

A lot of people who are pontificating on this know nothing about the actual numbers and risk factors for different segments...many getting swept into the moment.

 

[builtbadgers]

Cal State university system closes campus for fall to students. That covers 23 schools, 9 of which are D1.

 

[MplsGopher]

Cal State university system closes campus for fall to students. That covers 23 schools, 9 of which are D1.

Hope some of the bigger campuses sue the state or the system to be allowed to open this fall.

Absurdity

 

[McDobb4BB]

For the State of Minnesota, the ultimate risk (death) is pretty clear.

- 80% of deaths related to Long-term Care Facility Residents (obviously serious Health Conditions)
- 99.2% of deaths have Pre-existing Health Conditions

I'm not the smartest guy, but I like to believe that some really smart people could figure out how to reopen the U and hold sporting events by isolating / protecting the highest at risk.

Sooner or later, we need to define a new NORMAL and move on.

 

[Gopherlife]

This stuff is pretty overblown.
In 1918 adjusting for the increased population size the 1918 equivalent of 2020 3-4 million people died of Spanish flu.

The gophers canceled 3 football games.
By 1920 baseball stadiums were full again.

That probably cost the Gophers another national championship. ?

 

[builtbadgers]

For the State of Minnesota, the ultimate risk (death) is pretty clear.

- 80% of deaths related to Long-term Care Facility Residents (obviously serious Health Conditions)
- 99.2% of deaths have Pre-existing Health Conditions

I'm not the smartest guy, but I like to believe that some really smart people could figure out how to reopen the U and hold sporting events by isolating / protecting the highest at risk.

Sooner or later, we need to define a new NORMAL and move on.

Your last sentence is true but when needs to be decided by those that know the safest way. It will eventually be measured against the other costs, including life and quality of life being paid.

 

[Moonlight]

There's a few aspects of this missing from this discussion. In my age group (a decade from retirement) I know 2 people who are self-employed (as I am) who have had the virus. Neither have been hospitalized or have underlying, and neither of whom are fully well. One can't work. There's a big span between dead and well. My job puts me into contact with high risk people so I have to be very concerned about my impact on others. I am definitely in the historical category of a very mild case of whatever is going around, but my personal and job life require me to keep in mind I could be a very problematic asymptomatic vector.

So then I have to consider not am I going to croak if I go to basketball games, but am I and my business going to get hit hard again if I get sick, or my business not be workable again - because I guarantee you that this opportunity for unemployment benefits for self-employed is never coming, ever again. And given my situation (that I have zero resentment regarding), how realistic is it to pony up now for tickets? Shall I get something out of my Roth to cover that? Sell some stocks? Additionally, the person I attend games with is a decade+ older.

I want almost desperately to have the season happen next year and to be there. But I'm not in any position right now to make that decision, or to pay for it. To move ahead would be irresponsible of me. At this point, I'd like to take a mulligan on next year

 

[Blackhammer]

Unfortunately no season might bankrupt college sports. None of this economically is as simple as taking a year off,

 

[Otis]

It will take a while for the casual fan who buys tickets with disposable money awhile to justify going to games. Diehard fans will still go. We will find out just how many of them still exist and live in the greater Twin Cities area.

 

[Some guy]

Unfortunately no season might bankrupt college sports. None of this economically is as simple as taking a year off,

Forget about sports.
If there isn’t school in the fall there are going to be entire universities than never reopen.

some of the best off financial colleges of the mid tier are already announcing pay freezes for the next 4 years and/or cuts

 

[Just Gopher It!!]

This stuff is pretty overblown.
In 1918 adjusting for the increased population size the 1918 equivalent of 2020 3-4 million people died of Spanish flu.

The gophers canceled 3 football games.
By 1920 baseball stadiums were full again.

Another difference between now and then is our exposure to 24/7 media now.

 

[Just Gopher It!!]

Never is a long time. Two months of this and the narrative is handshakes are over and not wearing a mask is like smoking. The simple fact is we probably won’t ever have a 100 percent vaccine and this thing simply will have to run it’s course. With all the unknowns it’s let’s fill the headlines with possible worse case scenarios I guess .

For all the media: if it bleeds, it leads.

 

[Just Gopher It!!]

There's a few aspects of this missing from this discussion. In my age group (a decade from retirement) I know 2 people who are self-employed (as I am) who have had the virus. Neither have been hospitalized or have underlying, and neither of whom are fully well. One can't work. There's a big span between dead and well. My job puts me into contact with high risk people so I have to be very concerned about my impact on others. I am definitely in the historical category of a very mild case of whatever is going around, but my personal and job life require me to keep in mind I could be a very problematic asymptomatic vector.

This is starting to come out now in NYC with health workers who had the virus, but are still not well; nobody know what the long-term health issues from this novel virus. Makes me think about 911 and how now of the long-term health problems where known/understood and diagnosed until they happened.

 

[cjbfbp]

There's a big span between dead and well.

I wish more people understood this. Thank you for stating it so simply. I've lost count of how many people I've read saying "It mostly kills old people in nursing homes and those with underlying conditions, so why the hell is everybody overreacting?" Apparently, it's never dawned on these people that not being able to walk more than a block or two because of damaged lungs and/or heart and having to undergo regular kidney dialysis really are not conditions to be cavalier about.