As Covid-19 crisis drags on, sports organisers caught between a rock and a hard place

The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on businesses and industries and among the harder hit ones is sports, with events and competitions across the globe cancelled or suspended.

Some countries have now taken baby steps to restart competitive sports after weeks of closure, but questions remain on what the “new normal” would be like in a post-Covid-19 sporting world.

I was speaking recently with a group of business leaders who advise a major United States sports organisation, and a key question raised was: Should the organisation invest heavily in technology to reposition its businesses during this global pandemic, or should it wait it out and prepare for a return to normalcy in the medium to long term?

It’s a tricky question because no one can tell when normalcy will return and in what form.

During the circuit breaker in Singapore, there was a surge in both demand and supply of online fitness and wellness resources, such as home workout videos, training demonstrations, and even live group workout or yoga sessions.

Organisations like the Football Association of Singapore launched online videos to teach basic skills to young players which can be practised at home.

Virtual running events, which can be done by participants on their own and while adhering to safe distancing measures, have also become popular.

These phenomena have given sports industry players pause for thought.

The US National Basketball Association (NBA) partnered with tech companies to produce its HomeCourt app, a mobile training application that uses advanced machine learning and computer vision to allow players to feel like they are in their own real-world video game. 

There are numerous other examples of sports business players seeking to tap various levels of technology to build products and services for their consumers during this Covid-19 outbreak.

These range from virtual sports events to new platforms to distribute content. The aim is to maintain engagement and interaction with their target audience.

But it’s not clear if these should be part of short-term measures to address the current environment, or a fundamental shift in focus and operations marking a departure from the way we view sporting events.

Both these strategies incur significant costs, the latter significantly more so, and it’s still too early to tell if the returns will justify a deeper and sustained pivot in strategy.

But as countries begin to consider emerging from the various lockdown measures, the impetus is growing to identify and adopt business strategies that will give the best chance for future success.

WHAT WE KNOW FOR SURE

There are a few things that  are clear at this point in time for the sports industry.

First, the economic outlook is bleak. The global economy could shrink by between 3 and 10 per cent in 2020, while a small and open economy like Singapore is expected to contract between 4 and 7 per cent, the worst recession since the country’s independence.

With the duration and intensity of the global downturn unclear, businesses across all sectors, sports included, need to brace and prepare themselves for turbulent times ahead.

Secondly, Covid-19 has changed our views on health and safety and this will affect the way we live, work and play for the foreseeable future.

If Covid-19 becomes part of our lives like influenza and other viral diseases have, then measures such as mask-wearing, safe distancing and minimising of large-scale social gatherings could become the norm.

This would see an increasing reliance on technology such as video conferencing, as well as virtual or augmented reality platforms.

Thirdly, our dependence on technology has certainly deepened in recent months.

We rely more than ever not only on video conferencing tools but also on electronic payments and online banking.

Of course, there has also been a surge in content consumed online and on social media.

These trends are likely to continue even if the Covid-19 threat abates, and any business looking to succeed would do well to understand and adapt accordingly.

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS

Given these parameters, there are a few potential scenarios which might prove to be the way of the future.

We are already seeing organisations like the NBA and Ultimate Fighting Championship considering consolidating the remainder of their events for 2020 in isolated locations.

This is to minimise the risk of exposure to Covid-19, with the UFC even looking at using a dedicated island venue.

The notion of playing out nail-biting finishes to leagues and major events in empty halls and stadiums are fast becoming reality, and there is talk that cycling’s major tours of France, Italy and Spain could potentially ban road-side spectators, who are often a critical element of the festive atmosphere at such races.

The question for sports businesses still remains whether to bet big on technology and change the way they operate, or hold out for a return to the good old days.

The former could entail leveraging on technology as an auxiliary aspect of the business to build deeper channels of engagement and outreach, or it could entail a wholesale revamp, to explore whether a digital version may be viable for example.

It’s not feasible to have a one-size-fits-all solution for every business in different sports and sectors, but perhaps the answer is somewhere in between the extremes.

The future environment may require events that incorporate various forms of technology to enhance the experience of sports fans both in the build-up to, during, and after the event, to deepen engagement and build loyalty.

This would combine the traditional experience of spectating with technology-enhanced perks, such as virtual or augmented reality, to cater to live audiences and those at home.

An example of this has emerged in Japan, where Yamaha has introduced an app that claims to broadcast cheers, boos and chants from users' homes to the stadium via the internet and speakers placed at the venue, to replace the usual crowd noise.

Taking this one step further, Danish soccer team AGF last week invited 10,000 fans to watch its game against a local rival via videoconferencing tool Zoom as the country’s top soccer league returned to action.

Prior to the game, AGF had asked its fans to sign up for virtual tickets, before grouping those who selected “seats” in the same sections of the stadium in groups of 18 for the video calls.

Throughout the 90-minute match, the fans’ faces were projected as a giant video wall of support.

It is likely that more of such innovations will emerge in the months and years ahead, and these could further alter the sports events landscape.

But most industry insiders agree on one thing — the passion for sports is something that must be shared with others, and sports fans will always find a way to do so.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Nicholas Fang is director of Novastella Consulting, a Singapore sports marketing and entertainment consultancy, and a member of the NBA Asia Junior NBA Advisory Council. He was previously a national fencer and triathlete, sports administrator as well as a Nominated Member of Parliament.