Brief Intro on COVID-19
The origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is constantly being speculated upon, but the general belief is that it took off from the capital of a province in China known as Wuhang. In no time, the deadly virus spread rapidly within the country and in no time crossed over countries and continents, becoming a global pandemic with over 54.1Million cases, 34.8Million recoveries and 1.31 Million deaths as per the World Health Organization (as of 15th November 2020).
How COVID-19 has Impacted the Sports World
“How does this impact the World of sports?” One may ask! And the answer is, a lot! The COVID-19 pandemic has touched all aspects of the human society: finance, economy, religion, sports, politics, and the list goes on.
Taking the case of sports specifically, several major events were forced to be postponed at the peak of the outburst of the disease. We can site here popular football competitions such as the English Premier League, the German Bundesliga, The Italian Serie A, and the French Ligue 1 just to name a few. Other sports were not left out, as the NBA, Grand Prix, some top boxing and tennis competitions were all reported to mitigate the wild spread of this pandemic during the early and mid-2020.
After several months of absence, these top sports competitions began resuming one-a-piece, it was the case for instance of the NBA resuming on the 31st July. However, the world and sport governing bodies inclusive were unanimous about the implementation of some measures; empty stadiums for some (all major football competitions, both at club and national levels), obligatory wearing of masks for others, and social distancing for some, all in a bid to avoid super-spreader events that could lead to further loss of lives.
The way Forward for Modern Sport
So, from the above, it’s quite evident that the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the world of sports, but the question is, “has COVID-19 been just negative to humanity and sports?” or could there be anything good that came out of it?
Well! A few months prior to this disease, very few people knew about things such as: E-Sports, E-Learning, and Remote-Working, but the shift in habits and social distancing imposed on us forcefully saw a surge in these (E-Sports in particular). Despite a decline in market value (explained by the drop in the global economy), the gain in popularity of the latter during the pandemic made experts such as Statista to cap the growth to reach an estimated 1.6 Billion U.S dollars in 2023.
Also, who says sports says sports betting, and with most betting shops and casinos closed, most bettors turned to the online betting sphere as an alternative. At the time when sports with huge number of bettors like football and basketball amongst others witnessed a drop in bettors, more gamblers turned to poker and other online sports betting forms to fill their need. Check our article on the best online casinos to know more on this online gambling type.
With supporters no longer welcome in stadiums, some clubs have turned to virtual animators to help create the sound/ambiance of a real crowd of spectators/fans cheering up or booing teams. This has been a common practice in the English Premier League and the French Ligue 1 for instance, thus going a long way to prove how greatly the pandemic has affected the beautiful game of football and sports in general.
Conclusion
It’s uncertain when the COVID-19 will be eradicated completely from the world, as some countries are more or less affected than the others, thus sports competitions and tournaments alike. That being said, the existing protective measure set by the sports governing bodies are enough to at least permit us enjoy our favourite competitions, although from our homes this time and not directly live as in the past.
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