05-15-2020, 11:39 AM
Regarding the idea of having fans spaced out, and limited capacity stadiums, I just don't see how this would be feasible. It seems like it would be a logistics nightmare. I personally think it has to be all or nothing, take your pick, as far as attendance.
Let's assume they went ahead and decided to sell limited tickets, and space people out...
-Who gets the tickets? Season ticket holders first? Only season ticket holders? Is it a raffle? Do you get a discount if your new, segregated seats are worse than the ticket package you paid for?
-Who enforces the distancing? Added security? Do you place them all throughout the stadium, in each section? That's going to get expensive.
-Do you open concessions? How do you ensure their distancing? How do you ensure their customers are distancing while in line? More security?
-How do you approach enforcing distancing entering and exiting the stadium? In the lots? In the concourses? In the bathrooms? etc.. More and more security?
-How many seats need to be sold just to be pay for opening the stadium to fans? Security, ticketing, concessions, on-site medical personnel, and insurance adds up to a significant amount. It may actually be cheaper just to eliminate all non-essential staff and liabilities than to pay them out and only generate revenue from a reduced capacity. Tje point I'm trying to make, simply put, is there may not be much, if any, of a profit after considering the above.
-What happens if there's either a reported outbreak from people who recently attended a game, or numbers ramp up locally? Now do you then switch to empty stadiums? How much of a nightmare could that create as far as refunds for tickets sold. How much time and energy, and MONEY, was wasted implimenting all of the above, to then have to just abandon it mid-season.
I think the idea that sports can just let in, say, only 30% of capacity and then simply space them out sounds great in theory. But I just think the reality would be an asbolute clusterf#ck.
The amount of measures that would need to be taken to do this would be significant if you were to do try to enforce it throughout the entire stadium. And even after all that, only a few tailgate lots off-site could make much of these efforts meaningless.
I keep my fingers crossed that there will be a season. I think there will be. But it's look more and more likely that it will be in empy stadiums IMO.
Someone from Fox just came out the other day and said they've already started planning for pumping in crowd noise and using "virtual fans" for telecasts. Virtual fans I guess means you're basically superimposing something like video game fans into the stands of a live broadcast. That sounds WILD.
We'll see... I just hope some of these Universities closing down for the fall doesn't create a domino effect of canceled sports. IMHO we really need baseball to agree on something soon, so they can show everyone that it can be done. Because if they elect to cancel the season, and you have numerous colleges canceling their seasons, it's going to put a lot of pressure on the NFL to follow suit.
Let's assume they went ahead and decided to sell limited tickets, and space people out...
-Who gets the tickets? Season ticket holders first? Only season ticket holders? Is it a raffle? Do you get a discount if your new, segregated seats are worse than the ticket package you paid for?
-Who enforces the distancing? Added security? Do you place them all throughout the stadium, in each section? That's going to get expensive.
-Do you open concessions? How do you ensure their distancing? How do you ensure their customers are distancing while in line? More security?
-How do you approach enforcing distancing entering and exiting the stadium? In the lots? In the concourses? In the bathrooms? etc.. More and more security?
-How many seats need to be sold just to be pay for opening the stadium to fans? Security, ticketing, concessions, on-site medical personnel, and insurance adds up to a significant amount. It may actually be cheaper just to eliminate all non-essential staff and liabilities than to pay them out and only generate revenue from a reduced capacity. Tje point I'm trying to make, simply put, is there may not be much, if any, of a profit after considering the above.
-What happens if there's either a reported outbreak from people who recently attended a game, or numbers ramp up locally? Now do you then switch to empty stadiums? How much of a nightmare could that create as far as refunds for tickets sold. How much time and energy, and MONEY, was wasted implimenting all of the above, to then have to just abandon it mid-season.
I think the idea that sports can just let in, say, only 30% of capacity and then simply space them out sounds great in theory. But I just think the reality would be an asbolute clusterf#ck.
The amount of measures that would need to be taken to do this would be significant if you were to do try to enforce it throughout the entire stadium. And even after all that, only a few tailgate lots off-site could make much of these efforts meaningless.
I keep my fingers crossed that there will be a season. I think there will be. But it's look more and more likely that it will be in empy stadiums IMO.
Someone from Fox just came out the other day and said they've already started planning for pumping in crowd noise and using "virtual fans" for telecasts. Virtual fans I guess means you're basically superimposing something like video game fans into the stands of a live broadcast. That sounds WILD.
We'll see... I just hope some of these Universities closing down for the fall doesn't create a domino effect of canceled sports. IMHO we really need baseball to agree on something soon, so they can show everyone that it can be done. Because if they elect to cancel the season, and you have numerous colleges canceling their seasons, it's going to put a lot of pressure on the NFL to follow suit.