Has the Interest for NBA and NFL Grown In Fans During the Pandemic?
Professional football and basketball can brag to be two of the three most popular sports leagues in the United States. On a regular season, in a regular year it was a given to see football stadiums and basketball arenas full to the brim of fans cheering on their favorite teams as well as supporting the team’s official merchandise. Online sports betting sites would offer fans all kinds of alternatives to be able to make money off their favorite teams, the world with the global coronavirus pandemic making 2020 everything but a successful year for the sports industry, we beg to wonder, has there been an increase of interest from fans towards pro basketball and football?
The NBA, Starting Point of Covid Stopping Sports
The NBA was the first official professional sports league to call off all action because of the coronavirus pandemic quickly becoming more and more of a global conundrum. After months of no action whatsoever it was decided that the 2019-2020 season would be finished in a special bubble style tournament, clearly a COVID-19 inspired invention. The short lived tournament which hosted 23 teams in the Walt Disney World in Florida under strict health and safety protocols and of course no fans in attendance.
While the option for fans to be present for their team by being showcased in a screen by courtside of the game the NBA suffered severe drops in ratings because of the circumstances. With the in habilitation of fan attendance to games and the cancellation of the regular season, substituted by a flash bubble tournament fans felt a definite separation from the league and teams.
Such instances as games, including pivotal playoff matches, not having the usual and necessary exposure because of weekday afternoon scheduling saw the ratings fall to almost 40% less than last year. Added to this the whole controversy behind the “Black Lives Matter” movement that saw players take a much needed and justified social standing to battle racism across society being shun by government officials and supporters of said government also made the NBA take a blow when it came to its relationship with fans.
The NFL, Baby Steps After Fumbling Towards a Familiar Future
The NFL on the other hand didn’t have to go through as much tribulations as the NBA did. Professional football teams across the United States were able to go through with their training camps and pre-seasons but with a strict set of rules and regulations regarding health and safety because of the COVID Pandemic. Just like the NBA, the NFL followed a strict no fans in the games rule to assure the safety of the general public as well as the athletes and team personnel. While the NFL has made bigger strides towards being able to have fans back in the stadiums for games, always following social distancing rules, as well as social bubble rules and strict hygiene protocols, fans have been slowly deterring away from football.
Ratings here too have dropped because of game cancellations, postponements and non-sports related issues taking a stronger part in the scenario. Football players have been some of the most vocal when it comes to social justice matters which has caused a big separation between fans and their teams.
What Can Be Done Moving Forward?
Both the NFL and NBA are in dire needs to reconnect with their fans. In a time where everything can be done through a computer, a phone or a tablet and social media rules almost all communications teams need to use these tools as keys to rekindle relationships that were once as strong as rocks. Also both professional leagues need to make bigger strides towards being able to bridge the gaps caused by social injustice, racism, sexism and homophobia amongst other problems.
The time for fans to come back to stadiums and arenas will hopefully soon be back, but for now working on building strong long distance relationships with fans could be a key to becoming massive successes for fans around.
