WS Chronicle

By Dr. James B. Ewers Jr.

Having fans in the stands has taken a temporary hiatus. At least I think it is only temporary. We cannot have our popcorn and soda while cheering for our home team. I miss the nachos, cheese and hot peppers. Bring them back! At this moment, our in-person thrills are taking a backseat to the coronavirus.

Spectator sports are an American way of life. I would opine that we have taken going to a sporting event for granted. In my lifetime, I cannot remember stopping sports. COVID-19 has put our beloved sports in drydock. We cannot see Serena serve or Federer hit a backhand. LeBron, AD and the rest of the NBA are on mute. Roger Goodell held the NFL draft from his basement.

All college spring sports were cancelled some months ago, so no champions will be crowned. However, these student-athletes will retain their eligibility. That will be an interesting decision for some college athletes to make. If you are a senior and graduating, do you want to return and compete again? 

Billions of dollars are being lost by professional and college sports. The economic impact is severe. This was unexpected, so the plans going forward are murky and unclear. We the fans not only bring excitement, but we also spend money and a lot of it. 

According to credit cards.com, over the past year fans spent approximately 56 billion dollars on sporting activities. As longtime sports iconic announcer Keith Jackson used to say, “Whoa, Nellie.” That’s a lot of cash, no matter how you count it.

Matt Schulz, senior industry analyst for credit cards.com said, “The fact that people are spending this amount on sporting events shows the emphasis they’re putting on experience and memories instead of just stuff.” Now with COVID-19 around for the foreseeable future, this number will go down. Yet the American people are obsessed with attending games and the marketing of sports is at an all-time high.

Reports in 2016 said for a family of four to attend an NFL game, the price tag was $502.84. This compares to $363.58 for an NHL game and $339.02 for an NBA game. Going to an MLB game was only $219.53. Maybe there is something to that song, “Take me out to the ball game, buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks.”

If you are a season ticketholder to any of these sports, what will your costs be for the next season? Will social distancing play a role in fans attending the events? One of the ultimate questions will be whether owners will make less and therefore players will make less. How will that affect fans?

The NCAA also has a billion-dollar industry. The Division I level will surely have a decrease in revenues. What effect will this have on college scholarships? Boosters at all levels will have to give more of their money.

Already there is talk about the upcoming football season. Danny White, athletic director at the University of Central Florida, said, “There is not a model I can run to fix the problem of not having any football.” If we do not have college football in the fall, what will America do?

Manny Diaz, coach of the Miami Hurricanes football team, said, “We have to play it out and see what we can get. That is the difference. Let’s see how good we can get it. I believe we will all be appreciative for whatever we get.” I think coach Diaz is right.

The coronavirus has us cheering at re-runs at home. No matter how hard we cheer, the outcome will still be the same. I conveyed these sentiments to my son-in-law recently. We want the real thing.

James B. Ewers Jr., Ed.D., is a former tennis champion at Atkins High School and played college tennis at Johnson C. Smith University where he was all-conference for four years. He is a retired college administrator and can be reached at evers.jr56@yahoo.com.