Unless you’ve been living under a rock hibernating for the last two or three years, you’ll know that a specific event happened in 2020 that rocked the world. The global pandemic forced us to change the way we acted for many years to come, and we are still adapting to the changes right now.
While all aspects of life changed during this period, the sports world was one of the biggest industries hit by the pandemic. Some of the changes were negative initially, with pro sports being put on hold for months. However, after two and a half years, it’s fair to say that sports have grown in popularity because of the pandemic. Why is this the case? Let’s take a look!
The need for exercise
The pandemic proved to us that the need for exercise was more significant than ever before. People were encouraged to head outside and keep fit. It was dubbed as one of the best ways to keep yourself healthy and boost your immune system. As a result, we saw loads of individuals claim group exercise certifications and create workout classes for entire towns to take part in. But, we also saw more and more people turn to sports as a way of exercising and staying fit. People would take up running, football, rugby, tennis, cycling – you name it! All of this was fuelled by the pandemic’s emphasis on exercising and staying fit.
FOMO
If you’re unaware, FOMO stands for fear of missing out. It’s a popular term that relates to the sensation you feel when you miss out on something. If your friends have all gone out, but you can’t, you start experiencing FOMO. The same is true of sporting events throughout the peak of the pandemic. We all started to get FOMO because we couldn’t see our favorite teams play anymore. Months passed without seeing someone kick a ball, and then we had to deal with crowd bans in stadiums!
Remember, it was only a year or so ago when sporting events started allowing crowds back in. Before then, we spent months sitting at home watching games. The FOMO that was built created a world where everyone was more eager than ever to head out and watch live sporting events. Then, we had partial crowds, so tickets to events were even harder to come by. Eventually, people were allowed back in to pack out the stands – and we’ve seen massive increases in attendances.
Ultimately, these are the two driving forces behind the growth in sports over the last two and a half years. By all means, sports were always popular, but being forced indoors has given the sporting industry a new lease of life. We all felt the urge to play sports as a form of exercise, understanding that it is important to remain fit and healthy. Alongside this, years of not being able to properly watch live sports or attend events led to a huge degree of FOMO. So, when things started to become more relaxed, we all rushed to stadiums and wanted to watch our local teams battle it out.