3 Ways For Live Sports: 1. No Fans, 2. Virtual, 3. CFH Compete From Home
As we live in the times of the Sport Hiatus where almost all live sports have been stopped, the need for creating palatable alternatives is rising.
There is a constant flow of new initiatived both from sports and media companies looking for the best possible thing that can replace live sports. By observing the market I have come up with 3 different approaches in which we can categorize what has been produced until now in less than a month (March 2020).
The traditional Live Sports events are being replaced by three options:
- Live Sports with no fans to be held in quarantine camps
- Virtual Esports tournaments, where the Esport is played instead of the real life sport
- CFH: Compete From Home, where athletes are competing from home in a very similar ways in terms of effort as in the real life sport
Let’s see some examples and dig deeper.
1. No fans
It’s now clear that live sports will resume with out fans for an initial phase. Many leagues and sport federations are studying how this can happen, and depending on the sport, they are closer to having a safe, manageable and sustainable solution.
Closed Sports Venues, Open Doors For Creative Fan Engagement
Oak View Group Developing Post-Virus Safety Standards For Venues
Soccer Leagues Investigate Quarantined Camps Resume
Applies to: potentially all sports.
Example: WWE
Wrestlemania 36 has been organized and broadcasted with no fans at the venue
2. Virtual/Esports
In those cases where
Applies to: all sports with a related companion esport game: motorsports, soccer, football, basketball, tennis etc…
Tennis: Madrid Open To Be Played Online From Home
Millions Will Tune In For ITV’s Virtual Grand National
Record Esports Viewers For eNascar Race
Example: F1
What Leclerc Win Means For F1 And Ferrari
3. CFH Compete From Home
For those sports where it is possible to play/compete in a very realistic manner, as close as possible to the real life sports, competitions can be organized with athletes in their homes all connected together.
One can argue this is very similar to the previous case based on virtual gaming, as you need some sort of virtual experience to make this happen, very often a game, but this case implies a stronger similarity in the effort of the athlete.
Applies to: Individual sports mostly, cycling, golf, running but all still experimental at this stage.
Example: Triathlon
Triathlete Unable To Finish Virtual Race After Husband Accidentally Unplugs Bike
Conclusion
Wherever you are in the ecosystem of sports this model can help you navigate your options and the impact of Sport Hiatus on your business and professional experience.
Useful links to my past posts on the Sport Hiatus matter:
3 Phases: Sport Hiatus, Resume, The Next Normal
Sport Hiatus: Focus on eSports
5 trends — How the industry is reacting to the Sport Hiatus
Sport Hiatus? Let’s go idea-generation
Our website where all Sport Hiatus content is aggregated
