The Surprising Positives That the Pandemic Has Brought to Sports
The 2020 pandemic was arguably one of the most grueling times that we’ve ever faced. We saw sports become heavily affected, but there have also been some surprisingly positive developments that came as a result of the pandemic. In this post, we’ll be looking at some of the positive changes that were made to sports as a result of the coronavirus.
Seasons will be shorter, thus improving the well-being and performance of athletes
While the NFL was the only sport to maintain its season length, every other sport was cut a little shorter. Season length is actually something that has been discussed by players in the past, particularly by those in the NBA. Long seasons contribute to fatigue, stress, and muscle strain. This leads to players feeling groggy at times and not being able to perform well. It can also cause a lot of mental stress and might cause frustration at times.
This was clearest with the 2020 NBA season. Dubbed the “NBA bubble”, the quality of play during this period was extremely high and unlike anything we’ve seen before. We believe that this is likely caused by the more relaxed schedule and more attention being paid to the health and wellbeing of players. When players can focus on their game and get enough time to relax in between games, it drastically improves their overall health and makes for some spectacular games.
While it’s a little sad to think there could be fewer sports on the TV, it’s ultimately best for the athletes and ensures that we get quality games whenever we watch. While this might only be temporary, it’s clear that season length is something that needs to be reconsidered.
Improved camera angles and audio quality
One of the most noticeable changes that the pandemic has brought to the big screen is in the camera angles and audio quality. If you’ve been watching sports on TV, then you’ll notice that networks are using lots of little tricks to improve the viewing experience. For example, they’re using drones to swoop in and capture close-up footage of the players, and they’re using clearer microphones to capture audio from the players.
While it’s a bit strange to see stadiums so empty, one of the unique side effects of this is that we can actually hear the sound of the game and the players instead of the crowd cheering. Background noise is normal when watching sports games, but it’s nice to be able to hear the players themselves and get a more immersive experience without all of the extra sounds.
Broadcasts are starting to change, and mostly for the better. Networks are taking more advantage of technology, they’re getting creative with how they show games, and they’re giving us a deeper look at how the game is played out compared to before. This is a great thing and we hope it stays around because it’s extremely interesting to hear the players and get these amazing close-up shots of the games in motion.
Experimenting with different rules
2020 saw the MLB announce a few rule changes, such as including a three-batter minimum for relief pitchers and increasing active roster limits. Most of these changes were aimed at speeding up games, much to the dismay of purists of the game. While many people swear by the rules that they played by many years ago, it’s become important to try and captivate new viewers. One proposed strategy was to shorten games through various rules, and it turns out that many fans were actually incredibly satisfied with the 2020 season changes.
This is just one example of how the pandemic has forced us to introduce new rules or change things to make the sport a bit more accessible. While it may put off some purists, it’s become important to try and appeal to a larger audience as well. Professional sports leagues shouldn’t be afraid of changing rules just because purists might get annoyed. It’s important to be more creative with rules and to have that flexibility in the way people think about how the sport is played. As long as nothing is changing the core of the sport, we believe that it’s perfectly acceptable to make some small changes and tweak things to improve the sport as a whole.
While the pandemic has certainly taken its toll on us all, it’s clear that it has introduced some important changes and given us a wake-up call. In the world of sports, it has brought some positives that we hope can stick around.