Life has been put in suspended animation since mid-March 2020 when the worldwide pandemic literally blew up in the face of humanity!
Sports, as much of life, went into forced hibernation. The first big casualty, of course, was the Olympic Games in Tokyo which has been rescheduled for a 23rd July, 2021, start though there is no absolute certainty even about that! Neither is there any sanctity to the new 11 June, 2021, revised schedule for the European football championships.
While Wimbledon tennis cancelled 2020, French Open is hoping for a September staging on the Roland Garros clay!
But much depends on the development in the field of medicine and science, both way beyond human control.
One of the options that sports administrators have been mulling over is holding games with gates closed. It has been done ... as a punitive measure against erring hosts, especially in football. But doing it all over the world may just take the needle out of the competitive edge that sports bring to any contest. After all sports people are only human, albeit with vastly superior skills than the average person. But to perform before empty seats may just take the bite out of the high that a roar of a full stadium would bring.
Then there is always the danger of the virus spreading through close physical contact that most sports require!
Added to that is the prospect of costs if TV is going to be the only source of revenue. Someone needs to be paying for moving all the equipment and people into place ... a cumulative 50km plus of high end cables are laid for a single international game of cricket. Besides several truckloads of equipment is required to bring a truly world class audio-visual experience to homes!
Besides there is the small point of rights fees! Since that will be the ONLY source of revenue for the organisers / hosts, they would certainly not want to sell cheap. Neither would TV companies be willing to pay out of their pockets if they can't generate enough revenue from the telecast. So advertisers have to be prepared to bear the costs.
With the world economy reeling from the pandemic, are the big ticket buyers of advertising spots really prepared to go ahead! Doesn't seem likely at the moment.
Safest option would be a wait and watch policy as the summer swings by. May be the balmier days of autumn may bring in more cheer with better opportunities. Till then sports competitions must be kept in abeyance in order to keep them viable!
Sports, as much of life, went into forced hibernation. The first big casualty, of course, was the Olympic Games in Tokyo which has been rescheduled for a 23rd July, 2021, start though there is no absolute certainty even about that! Neither is there any sanctity to the new 11 June, 2021, revised schedule for the European football championships.
While Wimbledon tennis cancelled 2020, French Open is hoping for a September staging on the Roland Garros clay!
But much depends on the development in the field of medicine and science, both way beyond human control.
One of the options that sports administrators have been mulling over is holding games with gates closed. It has been done ... as a punitive measure against erring hosts, especially in football. But doing it all over the world may just take the needle out of the competitive edge that sports bring to any contest. After all sports people are only human, albeit with vastly superior skills than the average person. But to perform before empty seats may just take the bite out of the high that a roar of a full stadium would bring.
Then there is always the danger of the virus spreading through close physical contact that most sports require!
Added to that is the prospect of costs if TV is going to be the only source of revenue. Someone needs to be paying for moving all the equipment and people into place ... a cumulative 50km plus of high end cables are laid for a single international game of cricket. Besides several truckloads of equipment is required to bring a truly world class audio-visual experience to homes!
Besides there is the small point of rights fees! Since that will be the ONLY source of revenue for the organisers / hosts, they would certainly not want to sell cheap. Neither would TV companies be willing to pay out of their pockets if they can't generate enough revenue from the telecast. So advertisers have to be prepared to bear the costs.
With the world economy reeling from the pandemic, are the big ticket buyers of advertising spots really prepared to go ahead! Doesn't seem likely at the moment.
Safest option would be a wait and watch policy as the summer swings by. May be the balmier days of autumn may bring in more cheer with better opportunities. Till then sports competitions must be kept in abeyance in order to keep them viable!
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