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The conundrum of COVID-19 and the sports industry: when saving lives is more important than entertainment

(Das Rätsel von COVID-19 und der Sportindustrie: Wenn die Rettung von Leben wichtiger ist als Unterhaltung)

The advent of COVID-19 has thrown the world of sports into disarray. Far and wide, numerous sports codes, leagues, and federations suspended their activities. They had their operational models adapted as a safety precaution to ensure that minimal human life is lost. Social distancing, one of the critical measures in combating COVID-19, is not always practical for both spectators and participants in sports events. In this chapter, I interrogate the impact of COVID-19 on the sports industry. I argue that COVID-19 has exposed the long-standing neoliberal operational model that has been followed by the world of sports as being flawed and in need of a massive change. I argue that, perhaps, COVID-19 was the necessary chaos that the sports industry needed to usher in a `new paradigm.` The sports industry ought to keep up with new trends, adapt and embrace new strategies and technologies to continue to offer sporting activities when `live` game participation and attendance are not an option amid large scale pandemics such as COVID-19. I recommend that the lessons learned from challenges imposed by COVID-19 should transform sports into new frontiers never imagined before, in which saving lives are more important than entertainment.
© Copyright 2020 From High-risk Sports to Sports as High Risk: Crisis, Captulation and Creativity during COVID-19. Veröffentlicht von CSSALL Publishers Ltd.. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Bibliographische Detailangaben
Schlagworte:
Notationen:Sportgeschichte und Sportpolitik Leitung und Organisation
Tagging:Coronavirus Pandemie virtuell Sport Echtzeit
Veröffentlicht in:From High-risk Sports to Sports as High Risk: Crisis, Captulation and Creativity during COVID-19
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: Pietermaritzburg CSSALL Publishers Ltd. 2020
Schriftenreihe:Alternation African Scholarship Book Series, 5
Online-Zugang:https://doi.org/10.29086/978-0-9869936-8-8/2020/AASBS05
Seiten:35-68
Dokumentenarten:Buch
Level:hoch