This Sporting Life – a world turned upside down

Professor Jonathan Grix on the hard thinking needed by sports policy makers during the global lockdown

One of the key roles of sport in society has always been as a major source of distraction from politics and everyday life. During antiquity, the Romans understood this better than most, offering spectacular entertainment to their citizens in the Colosseum as a way of diverting interest away from wars and political infighting. Nowadays, sport continues to provide the public with ‘diversion’ and ‘entertainment’ and a conduit through which individuals vent their frustrations, channel their exaltation and return home happier with their lot post-event.

Herein lies the problem during the unprecedented shut-down caused by the Covid-19 virus: sport is best placed to help during a crisis where people yearn to be entertained, yet, the nature of the coronavirus, has led to the cancellation of one of the most powerful cultural forces needed to see many people through the coming months of isolation.

All major sporting events have either been cancelled or postponed, such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the Euro 2020 football championship and the French Open tennis championship, or are under immense pressure to follow suit. Wimbledon will succumb to external pressure and postpone in due course. Both the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Japan were reluctant to pull the plug, primarily because whoever postponed the event would likely be responsible for paying the bill, which is why the decision took longer than expected to be announced and was ultimately a joint one.

The economic and psychological impact arising from the cancellation and postponement of sport and sports events are probably the most important factors to consider. The sports industry is one of the fastest growing globally and comprises not only major events and league games, but also sponsorship, the sale of merchandise, TV rights, ticketing, betting and spectators (arm-chair and live). All of the above – plus the supply chains that are linked to them – have ground to a halt, which may well push many clubs and sports to the financial brink. For most people, however, the cessation of their weekly dose of sport will impact them personally. Bombastic events, such as the Olympics, will be missed, but it will be the daily and weekly fix, rather than one-off events, that will take the greatest toll. One of society’s biggest pastimes – apart from Netflix, soaps, social media and actually playing sport – is watching or following sport, sports teams and sports stars. Many peoples’ lives are built around weekend sports matches – the build up to the game in the week before, pre-meetings on match day with other fans, the match itself and then the post-event analysis that itself takes a few days, before the cycle begins again.

Many people see sport as a trivial side-bar to human life, which is true when held up against war and poverty. However, in the unprecedented situation of self-isolation and social distancing brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, the loss of sport could add to a decline in the mental health of many fans. Far from trivial, therefore, a more serious side to sport for mass entertainment becomes apparent under such conditions. In these unprecedented circumstances perhaps there is a need to think outside of the box. One area which would lend itself to a ‘lockdown’ is the meshing of Esports and ‘real’ sport: that is, where athletes ‘compete’ virtually, a practice already widespread. For example, cyclists can be linked through technology in real-time and ‘compete’ against rivals in virtual races. While this is not the Tour de France, it offers an element of entertainment that can be viewed safely from behind a computer screen with both shots of the athletes, as well as of their comparative progress in the ‘race’. Recent running events have attempted something similar, whereby instead of running a half-marathon together, individuals run alone for the specified distance using GPS in their locality and then upload their times to see where they finished in the race. More dramatic ideas include taking athletes who are virus free, quarantining them and then having them play matches, run races and compete viewed by an audience thirsty for sport and the uncertainty of outcome that makes its consumption so exciting. National Governing Bodies of sport, such as British Cycling, already use static bikes for race preparation. Given the collapse of the sporting calendar, the Government’s elite funding body, UK Sport, ought to tap into those athletes no longer Tokyo bound to organise virtual competitions (working with broadcasters) along the lines discussed above, that could go some way in satisfying the public demand for sports consumption and offering a channel for highly trained athletes to compete.

In this way, sport and sporting competition are not simply trivial pursuits, but rather they become an essential outlet in the pressure-valve of self-isolation, lock-down and social distancing of the weeks and months ahead.

Jonathan Grix is Professor of Sports Policy at Manchester Metropolitan University.