COVID-19 has ravaged the nation and the world. The virus has also ravaged the sports world as seen by all the shortened seasons and canceled games.
One area that has seen significant pain are venues such as stadiums and arenas. Besides all the canceled games, events, and concert, there has been more significant carnage that people often do not anticipate. For example, there are hundreds of thousands of employees who earned their salaries or extra income from working events as parking attendants, ticket takers, ushers, security, and concession stand workers.
Then there are all the businesses that are next to stadiums and arenas such as bars and restaurants that made a significant amount of their revenue on game days. This is only one segment of the sport industry hurt by the virus. There are also sportsplexes, parks, recreation centers, gyms, Yoga, Pilates, boxing, and countless other facilities that have closed or scaled back significantly. Then there are the travel teams, youth sports, personal trainers, coaches and others who have seen their industry come to a halt or slow down.
The sport facility market has been trying to explore best practices moving forward. While some facilities have run with limited fans, it is very difficult to operate with few fans as there still needs to be a full complement of employees to operate the facility. Facilities also need to: provide more frequent cleaning, more personnel to monitor/screen fans, more security, new cooking operations, remove buffets, switch over to condiment packets, etc…. The industry is trying to identify best practices and ways to make a facility safer.
According to one study by an architectural firm early in 2020, there are around 140 touchpoints for fans when they visit a stadium. That means constant cleaning and identifying new cleaning strategies. The cost to effectively clean a sport facility is around $1 per square foot, and some facilities are over 1 million square feet. Who pays for such costs and what happens if a facility needs to be cleaned after an outbreak? That could be a tricky issue for a professional team in a state owned facility. One company developed drones that can fly in a stadium and spray clean the seating bowl while another company has created a UV light on sled to sanitize the playing surface.
Yes, sport facilities are facing issues, but they are also looking at opportunities. Major League Baseball was able to trim 40 minor league teams without much protest, even though Congress had expressed concerns when the plans were raised two years ago. Teams are also looking at ticketless entry to minimize contact. While contact is minimized, it also eliminates scalping and allows teams to control the secondary ticket market more effectively. Facilities are moving to cashless transactions to minimize contact. Such an effort also will reduce the ability for employees to steal. Thus, facilities are using the virus as an opportunity to provide better and more efficient services.
Sports will come back. When fans return to the stands the facilities will be taking significant steps to make sure they are as safe as possible and people should not be scared to come back when allowed. The key will be for people to follow rules. Facilities can have the best rules, and all it takes are some fans who intentionally violate the rules to ruin it for everyone else.
Gil Fried is professor and chairman, Sport Management Department, University of New Haven
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