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.
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BRITISH SPORTING BODIES BACKING COVID PASSPORTS
Many of the UK’s leading sporting organisations have backed the introduction of Covid passports to allow fans to safely return to venues in the coming months.
The certificate would show if a person had been vaccinated, had a recent negative test or natural immunity from a positive test taken in the last six months.
An open letter from sports bodies, including Wimbledon, the FA, Premier League, and the Rugby Football Union says that “All of our sports can see the benefit that a COVID certification process offers in getting more fans safely back to their sport as quickly as possible.”
“We know that our stadia can only be fully filled with an assurance process.
“This process must ensure that everyone can access stadia and must include arrangements that would verify a negative COVID test or an antibody test alongside vaccination certification.”
The certification process will be part of a number of test events as we reported at the end of last week.
Read more about Britain’s return to live sporting and other events from our coverage last Thursday
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RETURN TO SPORT CONFERENCE SET FOR APRIL 29TH
On Thursday, April 29th Sport for Business will host a very timely morning conference on where we are with regard to the return of sport and the return of fans to our sporting stadia.
We will bring together sporting bodies and stadium operators, sponsors and agencies to see how they are preparing for a relaxation of public health restrictions and we will explore how things are being managed in other jurisdictions.
This morning we are pleased to confirm the next two of our keynote speakers who will join Rob Hartnett for an important look at how things are being managed across multiple different countries and the valuable lessons that can be learnt.
Kevin Quinn is Head of Commercial and Marketing at Leinster Rugby and will talk to us about the proposed pilot of antigen testing which would allow 2,000 fans back into the RDS as early as next month.
Jonny Madill of Sheridans has been working with Sport England in preparing their guidance for sporting bodies and organisations ahead of sport’s ‘return to play’ in the UK – specifically on the issue of Covid-19 vaccines. He will look at the key legal considerations for sporting organisations when sport returns.
They will join the speakers previously named.
Max Hamilton is the commercial Director of Golf’s European Tour. As a former senior executive at the FAI Max knows Ireland well and will update us on how the European Tour has managed the gradual return of fans to events around the world as well as updating us on the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Mount Juliet from July 1st to the 4th.
Katie McIntyre is the editor of Sports Venues International and has her finger on the pulse of how major sporting events and venues have been working to ensure safety but also a return to the commercial lifeblood of fans. She will take us on a whistle-stop tour of the world to see what lessons we can learn.
We will also talk with sponsors and technology companies to see what the stadium environment will look like once fans start to return.
The Sport for Business Return to Sport Conference will run for two hours, including a networking session for those in attendance to meet with their peers. We hope you will find it of interest.
You can reserve your place at the conference here
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LEINSTER RUGBY HOPING FOR PILOT APPROVAL TO ANTIGEN TEST 2,000 FANS
There could yet be light at the end of the tunnel for a return of fans to stadia. As venues across the UK prepare to open their gates this coming weekend, plans have been put forward by Leinster Rugby for a proof of concept test event to assess the use of rapid antigen testing in a permitted live crowd of up to 2,000 fans at the RDS.
With matches in the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup scheduled for the coming weeks, a trial match could take place as early as May 15th when Linster host Ulster. The opening match of the tournament at home to Munster is considered too soon for the detailed protocols around testing to be approved and set up.
The plans have been approved by the IRFU and are a direct response to the Government’s Rapid Testing Group’s recommendation to immediately implement antigen trial events. They were submitted to the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport & Media on Friday, 9th April.
The tests would use an EU approved antigen test that is proven to detect the known variants of the virus. They would be implemented on top of the stringent protocols already in place for players, coaches, staff and media at the RDS.
The secure mobile App and related testing technologies being put forward are also approved by the UK Government and will be used for multiple large sporting events in the UK over the coming weeks.
Rapid antigen tests can be bought over the internet at a cost of around €10 per test. The price for buying at a larger scale would come down to around half that, meaning a cost for the test event, of the tests of around €10,000, a value investment in getting crowds back and agreement on the funding of which would certainly be possible between Government, Sport Ireland, the IRFU and Leinster Rugby.
Read more of our coverage of this story from Tuesday
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INTERNATIONAL SURVEY GENERATES OPTIMISM
Two-thirds of host organisations around the world have already or are planning to allow ’stadium’ events in 2021 according to a relatively small sample survey of 24 major host organisations published this week.
The International Association of Event Hosts has confirmed that in Australia and New Zealand ‘stadium’ events have either already re-commenced or are planned to re-commence with full capacity in April 2021.
In Asia, Europe and North America, 25 per cent have plans for ‘stadium’ events to re-commence with full capacity but only late in 2021 or in 2022.
24 per cent of all respondents have no current plan date for ‘stadium’ events to re-commence. The majority of these are in Europe.
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REALISM BITES IN ONSIDE SURVEY OF SPORT FOR BUSINESS MEMBERSHIP
It is the one question that caused the greatest divergence between what was hoped for and what emerged. The fourth wave of The Onside Sport Industry Monitor, a snapshot of how over 100 member organisations of the Sport for Business community feel on a wide range of issues, was published this week and the confidence on when we will see a return of fans to venues is alarming.
Given the challenges that are being presented in terms of a vaccination roll-out, they are perhaps though reflective of a realistic take on what we can hope for.
It is an area that we will dive into in detail in two weeks time when we host the Sport for Business Return to Sport Conference, drawing on experience from here in Ireland and around the world.
We will hear from Kevin Quinn of Leinster rugby on the antigen test pilot event submitted to the Government for approval and reported on yesterday. We will talk to Max Hamilton of the European Tour on the different approaches being taken in golf across the continent; to Katie McIntyre of Sports Venues Business, a woman with her finger on the pulse of the international market place; and with Jonny Madill of Sheridans who has been advising with Sport England on the return of fans in our near neighbour.
The numbers we revealed this week are drawn from representatives of governing bodies, venues, sponsors, agencies, media and other stakeholders.
75 per cent believe we will have up to 25 per cent attendance at venues in 2021 but almost half of that number believes it will not be until the last three months of the year.
Within that number 42 per cent believe that the ceiling on numbers will get to between 25 and 50 per cent where it starts to become financially viable, but again only 13 per cent feel that will be possible before October.
14 per cent feel it could be at 75 per cent by the end of the year.
Perhaps of greatest concern is that one-third of our member organisations see the possibility that full stadia will not be possible until the final three months of 2022.
As with all things, the rollout of the vaccine will be critical, together with other new test or technology improvements that may come along as well.
A positive outcome from allowing fans back into grounds in England over the coming weeks will perhaps change the perspective on how safe it will be and all operators will be watching carefully as the results of the initial test events become known.
The British government is still expressing hope that from the end of June they will be fully open for business and that 0ver 80,000 fans will be present at Wembley for the final of the UEFA Euro 2020 Championships.
We can only hope that this is the case because if it is then surely the tight restrictions we are currently under will begin to ease at a faster pace. The important thing is to do so safely with as much evidence-based knowledge as possible.
Sport for Business Partners
