Sports are coming back in a big way. Across the globe, from UEFA Champions League competition to the Major League Baseball season, international cricket tests and National Hockey League and National Basketball Association playoffs, many have returned to their field or arena of play.

Golf recently held its first major, the PGA Championship. Formula One is in full gear. The rescheduled Indianapolis 500 and Kentucky Derby, two of the annual staples of the sporting landscape, will soon be contested. U.S. Open tennis is slated to get underway later this month.

Everywhere a sports fan looks, it appears to be business as usual in terms of the games that professionals play.

And yet, it is not. There are no spectators sitting in the seats at these matches. Play-by-play broadcasters are often calling the action off-site from television monitors. Zoom calls are the chosen method for post-game interviews with participants.

The fact of the matter is that the landscape of sports has changed and will continue to be required to adapt to survive and thrive, even in a post-COVID-19 pandemic world.

Evidence of this so-called new reality can be seen in preparation for the Kentucky Derby. The first leg of American thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown, hosts Churchill Downs and the Kentucky state government worked together to come up with a proposal for fans to attend the event.

However, the total attendance will be limited to 23,000, a far cry from the race-record 170,513 who crammed into the track for the 2015 race. All in attendance will receive a courtesy “Healthy at the Track” bag, which will include a disposable mask, a pocket-sized hand sanitizer and a personal stylus for no-contact self-service wagering.

Although betting windows will be open, bettors will be strongly encouraged to place wagers online via their mobile devices.

Technology is playing a role in making attendance at the Derby a possibility, just as technology figures to play a leading role in the way sports will be presented going forward.

Live Streaming

Even when the pandemic fades, there figures to be a constituency of people reluctant to pile into a public venue and sit shoulder to shoulder next to strangers who may not in fact be perfect. It could be due to underlying conditions that make them more susceptible to serious health issues should they contract COVID-19. It might simply be a matter of personal choice.

Regardless, the leagues are discovering right now that there are still powerful ways to get their product in front of the eyes of people, and you don’t even need to be up and front and personal with them.

Live streaming isn’t something new but suddenly, the reality of how much a part it will be in broadcasting games to the masses in the future has ramped up in significance. People attending already spent much of their in-game experience staring at their smartphones.

Fans watching as teams compete all-day in NBA and NHL playoff action from the protected confines of their COVID-resistant bubbles have taken to social media platforms, willingly suggesting that they’d happily sacrifice the chance to attend a game to get to watch games one after the other without leaving their couch.

The quality of live streams on mobile devices has dramatically improved. With the rapid expansion of legalized online sports betting across the USA, it’s vitally important to the online sportsbooks. When bettors put money down on a match, they want to be able to watch it.

Virtual Reality

Can’t go to an event? Virtual reality can make a fan feel like they are actually there. And no one needs to leave their living room to experience the feelings.

Through its partnership with Xfinity, NASCAR has added a unique virtual reality element to race day for fans that are watching from the confines of their own home. Sit in the front row at the track. Watch pit stops unfold from a perch on the wall along pit road. Not close enough? No worries. They’ll even put you at the wheel of one of the cars in the race, where you’ll feel everything but the G-force trying to pull you out of the vehicle.

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