The future of sport as we know it hinges on getting fans back into stadia. This is especially true in Ireland where the IRFU, FAI and GAA rely to a very high level on the income generated by matchday ticketing and revenue.
Each week we will take a look at developments around the world on where sporting organisations, public health authorities and governments are moving in the return to stadia.
SUPERBOWL TICKETS FETCHING $30,000
There will be 22,000 fans in the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay for the 2021 Superbowl on February 7th.
You’d want to be in possession of a chunky bank balance though if you wanted to strike this from your bucket list.
7,500 tickets are being distributed to Florida front line workers who have been vaccinated. Presumably, the temptation to sell those tickets on for a financial reward will be restricted by whatever means of personal identification are available.
We will be looking back on the different approaches that were taken across different states to getting fans back into stadia throughout the closing stages of the NFL season.
PATRONS EXPECTED TO ATTEND MASTERS IN APRIL
The 85th Masters Tournament, scheduled for April 5-11, 2021 will be conducted with a limited number of fans at the grounds, provided it can be done safely.
“Following the successful conduct of the Masters Tournament last November with only essential personnel, we are confident in our ability to responsibly invite a limited number of patrons to Augusta National in April,” said Chairman Fred Ridley.
“As with the November Masters, we will implement practices and policies that will protect the health and safety of everyone in attendance. Nothing is or will be, more important than the well-being of all involved. While we are disappointed that we will be unable to accommodate a full complement of patrons this year, we will continue our efforts to ensure that all who purchased tickets from Augusta National will have access in 2022, provided conditions improve.”
In addition, Ridley announced that the Club intends to conduct the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals as scheduled. Both of these competitions also intend to host a small number of patrons.
COVID SNIFFING DOGS SCREENING FANS AT MIAMI HEAT
This weekend, dogs who have been trained to detect the scent of the coronavirus will screen a limited number of fans attending Miami Heat games at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The fans will be brought to a screening area and the detection dogs walked past. If the dog sits by a fan, that’s a sign it detected the virus and the fan will not be allowed into the facility.
There are many uncomfortable parallels and no other teams in the NBA have chosen to go down this route. That said dogs are used to sniff out drugs at airports and other venues.
Anybody who is allergic to or scared of dogs will be able to take a rapid antigen test instead, which can be processed in less than 45 minutes.
The arena will also have attendees fill out a mandatory health-screening questionnaire and enforce mask-wearing at all times.
AVIVA STADIUM CEO SPEAKS TO SPORT FOR BUSINESS AUDIENCE
The Sporting Year Ahead event took place on Thursday morning in front of a virtual audience of over 200 members of the Sport for Business community.
Over the course of the coming days, we will release recordings of the conversations that took place with some of the leading figures in Irish sport and business.
These include Peter Sherrard, CEO of the Olympic Federation of Ireland, Chris Bird, CEO of Sports Travel International, and Jonathan Hill, CEO of the FAI.
This morning’s interview is with Martin Murphy, CEO of the Aviva Stadium and we talk about the impact of a year without fans and the prospects of their return during 2021.
“We need to start turning the tap on in terms of getting revenues flowing again. But that is a financial consideration,” says Murphy
“The bigger consideration is health safety and ensuring that we can run these events safely when it is time to do so. We will be dictated to and guided by the Government and we will do everything we can to try and assist with the advice and information that we have available to us, and they plug that into NPHET and Government circles so they have a fuller and complete picture of what sport can do.”
“Providing we have engaged with NPHET and the relevant authorities to make sure they are happy with our plans, it [re-opening] could be done in two weeks in my view. It would be a challenge getting ticketing out but that is a logistical challenge that can be overcome.”
“So, it can be done very quickly. Everyone is pulling in the right direction and we’re all aware of the issues the other has. There is nobody trying to push this through blindly without cognisance of what the big issues are.”
“The intention is when things improve, we’ll be able to activate very quickly to get people in in a safe manner and we’ve taken advice and looked at what’s around the world and we’re confident that we can run matches safely provided the external environment is right.”
Sport for Business Partners
