As the Southern Steel v WBOP Magic premiership netball showed in Dunedin last week, people will always remain the common denominator in sport. Photo / Photosport
As the Southern Steel v WBOP Magic premiership netball showed in Dunedin last week, people will always remain the common denominator in sport. Photo / Photosport
Like it or not, the Covid-19 pandemic has put sport in perspective — not just in a country but in the global context.
The colossal economic impact on the professional arenas is mind boggling and seems to be overshadowing everything else.
But what can we make of the sucker punchesat the grassroots level?
The implications are dire because the intangible values that sport offers, especially to the younger and impressionable minds, cannot be quantified as such. Think fitness, social skills and mental health.
Without the crowd applause it hardly mattered who won the ODI between Australia and the Black Caps because cricket was the loser at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Photo / Photosport
Park, momentarily, the fiscal figures from takings at a turnstile, advertising, merchandising, lucrative television deals and you'll find the impending threat of coronavirus will take a heftier toll on the routine of those who rely on a structured lifestyle to escape from the daily humdrum of education and work.
No doubt professional athletes, venues, their employees and vendors will feel the pinch but, it seems, vested interests tend to eclipse the overall desire to find a balance between public welfare and steering clear of the financial doldrums.
Invariably the avid followers will miss the ANZ Premiership netball, Super Rugby, NRL Premiership, the NBL men's and women's national competition or the A-League football.
However, some will argue they've had a gutsful of competitions and the Covid-19 situation has become a saviour.
It's hard to visualise a year where there appears to be an intermission from streams of competitions, series and tournaments from myriad codes.
Digital indigestion from watching sport is obvious but — akin to people who can't resist the temptation to drive by without turning into a fast-food outlet — viewers test their willpower in reaching for the remote control.
You tend to come out of a world cup or other and dive straight into a premiership or championship. Codes need to understand less is definitely more.
If anything, the pandemic's impact on TV coverage has become a timely yardstick on whether fans will go cold turkey if they don't watch sport for the next few months.
It's an opportune time to engage in quality family time — whether it be playing with a ball in the backyard, rolling the dice on board games or simply having a bonding session on the deck.
At a grassroots level, children will enjoy not trying to live up to the unrealistic expectations of pushy parents.
On the flip side, it must have dawned on codes, their stakeholders, promoters and players' unions of the significance of the fan base.
The spectators are the common denominator and without them sport will simply cease to be a sexy entertainment product.
How eerie is it to watch basketball, cricket, netball and football play to empty stadia.
You could hear the roar of an aeroplane engine during an innings of the Black Caps-Australia ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground but it was a tragedy to find the Ockers were oblivious to opening batsman David Warner's half century at a venue devoid of crowd applause.
How plastic it must feel for players to walk in and out of arenas without starry-eyed fans asking for selfies and autographs.
The Olympic Flame has been lit on Mount Olympia but will it still be flickering when the Tokyo Summer Olympics begin in July this year? Photo / Photosport
At another spectrum of the sporting landscape, we find Japan remains defiant in hosting the Tokyo Summer Olympics from July to August this year. The International Olympic Committee's posturing isn't helping either in the money v health tug of war.
That problem will be solved if the participating countries' leaders simply put their foot down to say their athletes won't take part.
Don't get me started on codes that put a gun to the heads of teams to beat the offside rules on travel ban border restrictions for fear of getting ostracised next season at the risk of player welfare.
On a domestic scale, Sky TV is notorious for bumping up the fees every time it covers a major event, such as the Olympics.
With countless marquee events not screened now, will Sky TV trim their viewer subscriptions to emulate the gesture of Spark Sport in livestreaming?
I'm afraid you'll find they'll react like petrol companies do when there's a drop in global crude oil prices.
