Football is the most popular sport on the planet. It is one of those sports that everybody knows and that everybody has at least once tried playing. When the world, however, gets hit with a global tragedy, things start to shift. Even football shifted, but by how much, remains to be seen.
Sure, matches were played and online bookmakers still had their way, with advertisements running as usual, offering promo codes. On the other hand, things changed because there were no live audiences. When a global pandemic forces the world to adapt, even football has to follow the rules. Here is how the pandemic affected football.
Football Had No Audiences
2020 saw football change to adapt to the circumstances of the pandemic. For even the most popular matches, especially classic ones like major rivalries between teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona, stadiums were empty. This, however, does not mean that there were no chants to back the players up. Virtual chanting and support from the crowd were added to make it seem like there was a crowd. This was meant with varying responses, some people loving it while others were not impressed. An empty tennis court is not like an empty stadium. Empty stadiums resonate much more and they feel a lot worse. Virtual audiences at least gave the players some idea of what normal used to be like.
Matches Were Not Played
Even though football is the most popular on the planet, some matches were simply not played. When struck with a global pandemic, some countries reacted much harsher than others, enforcing states of emergency, banning movement after a certain period, including all gatherings, sports, and otherwise. Given the lockdowns, one can only assume that football was not played in some of the world’s countries during 2020. For others, these restrictions continued in 2021, even though sports were given a pass, kind of. Sports do bring in a lot of money, so it would be unwise to hinder them for an extended period of time.
Business as Usual
Even though there were restrictions and obstacles, football cannot be slowed down for too long. The most popular sport brings in a lot of money and sponsors will see matches and tournaments go through. Stricter measures were applied, like bubble systems, but football continued. The 2021 season was already better planned, for almost every major football league all over the world. Players are still traded as usual and the most important matches like those of the Champions League are going to be played, pandemic or no pandemic.
In this regard, football was more adaptable than other sports, but that might be because of the money that it generates, and the budget that most teams and sponsors are willing to spend on their sport.
Football, unlike most other sports, was faster to adapt to the issues of the pandemic. It has taken a few hits but it has recovered faster than other sports. Money and popularity do have that effect and football is an example of it.
