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Game Changers

Game Changers: Signs of Recovery

The Game Changers tackled this question: What signals of recovery in the industry are you watching for in the next 12 months?

 

Heidi Browning: Positive signs would include the launch of a new season, maintaining health and safety protocols, and taking a measured approach to allowing fans in the buildings. There’s a lot of innovation that has occurred and will continue as we think about how to engage fans through technology, content and programs. 

 

Victoria Brumfield: Outdoor endurance sports starting to come back.

Diana Busino: Investment in the innovation of the at-event experience, whether that be in F&B experience, the evolution of ticket products, investment in fan-facing talent hires. 

Michelle Byron: The safe return of fans to sporting events over the next 12 months will be an important measure of recovery for the sports industry. 

Grace Calhoun: There are still more unknowns than knowns. However, the ability of institutions to secure adequate testing to give student athletes two or three tests per week and the meaningful adaptation of training, travel and competitive protocols to improve safety precautions will be signals that college sports will be able to return at higher levels and with indoor as well as outdoor competition.

Jennifer Carroll: The return of fans at full capacity in stadiums/sporting events.

Kareeda Chones-Aguam: Continuing to uncover ways to coexist with the pandemic, developing safe and reliable ways to ensure our player, staff and fan safety on a consistent basis.

Kari Cohen: Once all games and events are able to host spectators (and spectators are comfortable attending), that will be a real significant signal of recovery in my mind. 

Joni Comstock: Increasing interest in in-venue attendance.

Alexandra Dell: Live events will hopefully start happening again, and we’ll see how venues re-equip themselves with more creative digital ways to enable broader and more unique fan experiences. 

Lauren Dienes-Middlen: Most obviously, the ability of fans to safely return to attending live events. 

Christine Dorfler: I think that the return of fans at sporting events will represent the world coming together again post-crisis, and I can’t wait for that moment. Quarantine has provided an opportunity for people to experiment with different media consumption and fan engagement platforms. It will be fascinating to see how our industry responds to this rapidly evolving landscape. 

Danielle du Toit: Likely No. 1 has to be a vaccine that is available. Not only will that make people safer, it will make people feel safer. 

Melissa Duhaime: I think the fact that we are seeing new partnerships announced, and big brands activating in sports means that there is confidence that sports will bounce back and still play a pivotal role for corporations. 

Lauri Eberhart: I’m watching the continuing opening up of live sporting events. Against all the odds, we’ve had variations of NBA, MLB, NFL, college football, NASCAR, NWSL, WRG (World Racing Group) and ACL (American Cornhole League) seasons with different sizes of live audiences and broadcasts on television/digital, etc. As we adapt and continue to evolve our venue operations with respect to the live events, people will start coming back. This is all going to continue to evolve.

Jené Elzie: (1) The return of sporting events at scale; (2) the return of industry events; (3) long-term commitments by advertisers. 

Jill Frederickson: For sports media, specifically, I am watching for the sports calendar to get back to some sort of normal. We all realize there are bigger things in play here with COVID-19, but even though we are currently enjoying a cacophony of sports with NFL, CFB, MLB, and NBA all playing at once, I worry that sports fans are confused about what is happening when and that their attention is split among multiple sporting events. When else will sports fans have to choose between NFL games and the Masters final round? If effective testing protocols can allow the sports calendar to get back to some normal, it could allow consumption and interest levels to return to better levels.

Jordan Harnsberger: Fans returning to the stadiums. 

Kat Harwood: Upcoming holiday season and retail sales trends will be interesting — trying to understand just generally speaking how the individual fan and consumer is from a financial perspective and the hierarchy of needs in the discretionary spending buckets.

Molly Higgins: As it relates to community engagement, we can’t wait to be back in the community making appearances and hosting events and programs. When we come out of this pandemic, I think we will be smarter in terms of our engagement. We have learned how to utilize technology to expand our reach and be incredibly efficient. 

China Jude: Diversity, equity and inclusion data, initiatives, financial outcomes and C-suite hiring will be at the forefront in many businesses. These decisions will positively impact revenue, an increase of ethnic minority stakeholders and strengthen marketing strategies. 

Donna Julian: Getting people comfortable to come together and go to sporting events. 

Dani Rylan Kearney: The return of fans to the venues — when it’s safe, of course. Leagues have done outstanding work engaging fans via broadcast in their bubbles, but few things in sports and entertainment match the excitement of having passionate and loud fans at games. 

Angelina Lawton: I am watching for when fans return at full capacity back into venues and arenas for games.  

Raquel Libman: Getting our fans back in the venues. 

Blair Listino: Regulation. Fans. Vaccine. 

Nicole Lynn: Finishing up a football season and having a 2021 NFL draft. 

Liliahn Majeed: The biggest signal for me will be a vaccine the majority of the world feels safe taking.

Bernadette McDonald: Crowded 4 trains to Yankee Stadium and 7 trains to Citi Field.

Jen Millet: Tracking fan sentiment regarding their readiness/willingness to return to live events. Monitoring teams, leagues, facilities collabor-
ation with each other and with local and state government with regard to setting protocols that ensure a safe return to gathering for everybody. 

Jill Monaghan: As things slowly revert to life pre-COVID, I will be interested in how facilities ramp up event attendance and what protocols are in place to keep people safe. 

Belicia Montgomery: The biggest sign of recovery will be the return of the workforce. Once front offices begin to bring back their employees to full capacity and hire more, I think that will be a good indicator that the economic health of the industry is back on the rise. 

Jessica Muir: Evolution. I’m watching for those who are playing the long game, thinking creatively, growing and evolving. We are living through a transformative time in which recovery, trying to pick up where things left off, the status quo … it simply won’t be enough. 

Patti Phillips: The athletic department doesn’t thrive if the university doesn’t thrive. Enrollment has to be up, and for that to happen the [case] numbers need to be down. I’m watching for when folks can get back to in-person classes and safe competition.

Shelley Pisarra: Seeing the core fans of sports, music and whatever participate the way they could before. … We need to make them as accessible as possible or the model will have to change.

Stefanie Rapp: I love that sports are back! We need it to remain in play (safely.) In so many ways sports is the bellwether of the American public. With sports back, consumer confidence rises and spending increases. 

Naomi Rodriguez: Our community is everything, from how we relate to our fans to how our fans relate to each other. Aside from the obvious hope that medically, COVID-19 can be eradicated, I believe our industry and our sense of community will be restored when we are comfortable being together again. 

Shoshana Salmon: Fans. We miss the fans. 

Kristine Schroeder: The ability to reduce or eliminate social distancing guidelines are sure to reflect recovery in the industry. Fans engaging to buy tickets and attend games in person will be a welcome return to normalcy in the industry. At the same time, innovations that allow fans and patrons to engage in new and different ways and that potentially eliminate/reduce the risk of impact of the virus will allow additional opportunity for recovery. 

Kim Shelton: Fans in the stands will be the ultimate sign of recovery in the industry. … Continuing to safely reintroduce fans to the game-day environment will be the driver for recovery of the industry. 

Jill Spiegel: The continued momentum of golf through increased participation, beginners taking up golf for the first time and renewed interest from golfers who had taken time off from the sport for a while. 

Gina Sprenger: Just a general retail recovery … and games need to be played with live fans. 

Shiz Suzuki: Fans actually going to events. 

Vanessa Taveras: On the sponsorship side, the immediate focus has been on making the most of partnerships already in place and I look forward to seeing brands being able to plan confidently for the long-term opportunities again.

Denise Taylor: It has been exciting to see the role that science, technology and innovation has had on the return to sports. I will be excited when fans finally get to experience SoFi Stadium. 

Dionna Widder: Opening of stadiums and arenas for live events; teams/organizations staffing back up and hiring; new corporate partnership announcements. 

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