Has COVID Been Hard On Fans?

Look, if you’re really thinking about this question, the answer would have to be yes. It was immensely hard for some sports enthusiasts to deal with all of the interruptions, restrictions, limitations and shutdowns imposed on everything from peewee baseball to the NFL.

We also went through a lot of stages in this pandemic – those first weeks where everyone was panicked – then the intervening months where slowly, very slowly, some things started to loosen up. We got used to wearing masks everywhere, and we could go to the grocery store, but stadiums were still very limited in how many people they could accept. It was confusing, and a lot of people had to cancel plans, numerous times. There just wasn’t a lot of clarity at the beginning. We all had to muddle through somehow, as they say in that Christmas song. Eventually, 2020 came and went. Good riddance!

Electronic Sports

Here’s a silver lining, though. The major advances that the world has made in digital entertainment and recreation have been really profound, and that’s been front and center in the pandemic era. As soon as things started to shut down, we saw a lot of activity move toward digital sports utilities and platforms. Now we have really widespread forms of digital sports participation and fan platform activity, inspiring type of advances and initiatives that offer more to people who are homebound for whatever reason.

That really dovetails with what we do, because if you look back through the blog and other resources on the site, you’ll see that we’re very actively promoting building sports brands digitally and online. We also hold the principle of gamification, which is key to a lot of these digital innovations. Gamification, simply put, is the idea that by improving the interface and the user experience, you get more engagement and attention. The end user gets something, too – a more fun platform! So that’s a win-win and we always try to underscore the importance of gamification is everything we do.

So while COVID has been hard on the fan base, it’s also given us new opportunities to communicate in ways that require less resources. Instead of flying across the country and paying hundreds of dollars to sit in a seat, you have really vibrant multiscreen viewing and wagering and fantasy clubs and much more. Take a look at what we have done to contribute to this brave new world of esports and digital gaming. We’re excited about what’s here, and what’s coming in the future!