RMIT sports marketing expert comments on the future of sport in the wake of COVID-19

An RMIT leading expert in sports marketing, Associate Professor Con Stavros, highlights the importance of sport has been re-classified during the COVID-19 pandemic with its future uncertain.

Assoc Prof Stavros suggests that “sport may no longer be playing the important social function it has in the past and the future looks uncertain, at least for the time being.

“Sport isn’t fractured or bruised, it’s scarred. And while scars can heal, they can also fester and cause further damage. That is the crossroad of where sport is right now.

“Bill Shankly, a former Liverpool manager famously said ‘Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that.’ Perhaps, when truly tested, we’ve discovered this isn’t the case.

“Routines and ritualistic practices are what drive fandom, and in turn sport. Once these rituals and routines evaporate – both at the elite and community level - the power of sport to culturally and socially intertwine itself in our lives dissipates.

“Bubbles might allow a sport to be played out, but they don’t bring fans along on the journey in the same way.

“The same goes for community sport where training nights and gameday weekends have been disrupted, forcing families to rethink priorities.

“Will people return at all? Perhaps from three sports a week it becomes one as new habits in family groups are formed.”

Assoc Prof Stavros adds “in many areas volunteers, the lifeblood of community sport, are exhausted from stop-starts and managing their own lives through the pandemic.

“One approach for community sport will be to transform seasons into small batches to provide the flexibility to move, stop, start and rearrange as may be needed.

“For emerging sports, such as the AFLW, the exciting growth of recent years is now under pressure.

“For Victoria, the pressure on sport has been especially intense given the protracted impact of government-imposed restrictions.

Assoc Prof Stavros advises that government will need to look ahead to its calendar of major events and assess which events can realistically proceed, and how adding “while most events can function under some realignment, an event such as the Australian Grand Prix must be under some pressure given its costs to stage and its reliance on interstate and international travel.”

Assoc Prof Stavros has published numerous books and articles on sport and is the editor of the international journal 'Sport, Business & Management'.