Live sport during the COVID-19 crisis: fans as creative broadcasters
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that creative harnessing of user-generated content and integration of online and offline fandom can help broadcasters present sport in a much more attractive manner during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Abstract: The hiatus in stadium spectatorship due to the COVID-19 pandemic presents us with a unique opportunity to rethink the way sport fans participate in the making of live events. Some sport leagues have resumed, with others to follow, but the stadium experience has profoundly changed as fans cannot gather in the galleries until the spread of coronavirus is arrested. How can sport broadcasters continue to engage fans and mitigate the problem of the empty stadium? We argue that creative harnessing of user-generated content and integration of online and offline fandom can help broadcasters present sport in a much more attractive manner during and after the pandemic.
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TL;DR: In this article, a systematic review of scientific literature to discuss the recent developments in various global events amidst COVID-19 and the implications of the disease on event management is presented.
Abstract: Events are considered to be integral parts of global tourism and currently, they are experiencing massive turmoil in the form of cancellations or postponements thanks to the recent outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which has been declared as a pandemic of the 20th century Despite its multifaceted nature, the implications of COVID-19 on various events have been understudied thanks to the novelty of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) This paper undertakes a systematic review of scientific literature to discuss the recent developments in various global events amidst COVID-19 and the implications of the disease on event management
25 citations
TL;DR: The New York Times ran a detailed piece entitled '2020: The Year in Sports When Everybody Lost' (Drape et al., 2020), which lamented the economic impact of the COVID-19 p...
Abstract: On 13 December 2020, the New York Times ran a detailed piece entitled ‘2020: The Year in Sports When Everybody Lost’ (Drape et al., 2020). The article lamented the economic impact of the COVID-19 p...
24 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a Delphi study with executive-level experts in sport business identified various hard/soft skills and higher education's potential contributions to produce human resources and identified the differences regarding the above factors before and after COVID-19.
Abstract: The sport labor market’s needs are susceptive to environmental factors. The situation regarding COVID-19 has particularly been influential in altering employment and education policies. The purpose of this research was twofold (1) to understand the graduate employability (i.e., hard and soft skills): and contributions that higher education institutions can make to produce human resources and (2) to identify the differences regarding the above factors before and after COVID-19. The results of Delphi study with executive-level experts in sport business identified various hard/soft skills and higher education’s potential contributions. Moreover, experts' expectations are found to be intensified after the COVID-19 outbreak.
23 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the potential for social media brand communities to develop a sense of both community and place amongst sports fans and explored their influence in placemaking initiatives through the bonding and bridging social capital of a football club's supporters.
Abstract: The emergence of social media and digital channels have expanded communication practices and also created new, virtual spaces where sports fans can interact and communicate directly with each other and with clubs. This article examines the potential for social media brand communities to develop a sense of both community and place amongst sports fans. It explores their influence in placemaking initiatives through the bonding and bridging social capital of a football club’s supporters. A netnographic study of a football club’s supporter networks (five channels) and their interactions with social media brand communities was performed. Data gathered from online sources was underpinned by interviews with 25 members of the community. Findings were analysed via NVivo using bridging and bonding social capital as a theoretical lens. The paper makes two primary contributions to knowledge. It enhances our understanding of the impact of SMBCs and their use in a sporting context – an area that has become increasingly significant during the COVID-19 pandemic enforced lockdowns that have kept fans out of venues and contributes to our understanding of the influence of placemaking strategies upon the social capital of supporter communities.
17 citations
Cites background from "Live sport during the COVID-19 cris..."
...It remains to be seen whether the recent shift to an increasingly mediated consumption of sport and the likley change to the stadium experience (Majumdar & Naha, 2020) will result in greater acceptance of an increasingly global fan base by localised, hardcore fans....
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TL;DR: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for a transformative perspective on the role of sport brands in promoting fans' psychological well-being as discussed by the authors, drawing upon attachment theory.
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for a transformative perspective on the role of sport brands in promoting fans’ psychological well-being. Drawing upon attachment theory, the current ...
14 citations
Cites background from "Live sport during the COVID-19 cris..."
...In a commentary, Majumdara and Nahab (2020) explored how fans have become creative broadcasters during COVID-19....
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References
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TL;DR: The most important issue has been the sharp increase in the number of people infected which is causing a significant increase in acute respiratory failure cases (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2)) and acute respiratory distress syndrome requiring hospital admission and intensive care treatment.
Abstract: In early 2020, the world is facing a global emergency called COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). On 11 March 2020, the WHO has declared the ‘Pandemic state’ calling the governments to take ‘urgent and aggressive action’ to delay and mitigate the peak of infection.
The seriousness of the situation is evidenced by the extreme uncertainty of the measures taken by the governments of the various countries to stem the pandemic spread.
From 8 March 2020, the Italian Government implemented extraordinary measures to decrease the pathogen spread, targeting social distancing between individuals. The law focused on closing the commercial business, limiting the sporting activities and decreasing the opportunity for social gatherings. The most important issue has been the sharp increase in the number of people infected which is causing a significant increase in acute respiratory failure cases (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2)) and acute respiratory distress syndrome requiring hospital admission and intensive care treatment. Contrary from what was thought at the beginning, young people are also affected by the disease and can develop the severe respiratory conditions mentioned above.
Initially, despite the outbreak phenomenon, professional sports were not stopped, and on 11 March 2020, the …
106 citations
TL;DR: The growth of over-the-top (OTT) Internet and mobile video streaming services is a major development in the distribution, transmission and consumption of global media sport as mentioned in this paper, which is the most popular sport in the world.
Abstract: The growth of over-the-top (OTT) Internet and mobile video streaming services is a major development in the distribution, transmission and consumption of global media sport. Heavily capitalised ser...
68 citations
TL;DR: P pandemics like covid-19 bring added urgency to examine the impacts of hosting sporting mega-events, and the rhetoric emerging from international sporting organisations, such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has emphasised the importance of mitigating the impact of this pandemic.
Abstract: > ‘This is far bigger than our dreams right now. Now more than ever is a time to think bigger than yourself. Protect yourself, your families and your communities’.
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> Melissa Bishop-Nriagu (Canadian 800 m record holder).
The current coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic presents an extraordinary public health challenge. The WHO defines a pandemic as the global spread of a new disease for which there is little or no pre-existing immunity in the human population. Worldwide, we have seen ambitious public health measures implemented by governments, non-governmental organisations and individuals alike. Yet, there is still more to be done to ‘flatten the curve’ and mitigate the impact of this pandemic.
Sporting ‘mega-events’ are international, out of the ordinary and generally large in composition.1 These include the Olympic Games, which provide mass-spectacle for the public2 while producing significant health and socioeconomic impacts for host nation(s),3 including an increased risk for transmission of infectious diseases.4 Therefore, pandemics like covid-19 bring added urgency to examine the impacts of hosting sporting mega-events.
As sporting mega-events have been cancelled and postponed in response to covid-19, the rhetoric emerging from international sporting organisations, such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has emphasised the importance of …
60 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors engage and extend understanding of the interrelated concepts of prosumption, the prosumer, prosumer capitalism, and McDonaldization in relation to the highly commodified and spectacu...
Abstract: This article engages and extends understanding of the interrelated concepts of prosumption, the prosumer, prosumer capitalism, and McDonaldization in relation to the highly commodified and spectacu...
53 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, Gantz reflects on the importance of communication and sport and the evolution of his research on fanship and social relationships, cutting across two overlapping dimensions, including communication and sports.
Abstract: In this essay, Walter Gantz reflects on the importance of communication and sport and the evolution of his research on fanship and social relationships. Cutting across two overlapping dimensions—ph...
49 citations
"Live sport during the COVID-19 cris..." refers background in this paper
...A large number of fans, especially young children and women, still view sport with family members or friends (Gantz 2013)....
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