It's all kicking-off - top takeaways from sports during lockdown

As some of the major sporting leagues across the globe prepare to return this week, what are some of the top changes that were implemented for lockdown conditions and will they remain once spectators are allowed back in stadiums and into seats?

Fake crowds

Arguably one of the most important parts of any sporting contest, the crowd provide an atmosphere that can lift a team or intimidate opposition and affect the play on the field. With stalled attempts to allow spectators back to a range of smaller sporting events, there are tentative plans for opening up to supporters in the coming months either in smaller quantities or alongside new rules supporters must follow to keep contact and risk of spreading to a minimum.

With the supporters due back, will we see an end to some of the more innovative efforts to keep some of the atmosphere without the people? From life-size cardboard cut-outs of fans in Major League Baseball, Big screens with "zoom call" like grids of supporters watching from home and of course the new position of "crowd sound mixing engineer" opening up across sports broadcasters the world over there have had lots of fun examples of trying to gain an edge on the competition and enhance the on field play.

Best: Fleetwood Town F.C. mannequins in the EFL League 1 playoff semi-final, where they had dressed up a selection of mannequins up in supporter's garb and stuck them in place behind the home team goal.

Worst: Multiple examples of the fake crowd noise being a few seconds delayed between events on the field and their "reaction". While watching with the crowd noise you can forget it isn't real but this brings it home and detracts from the game.

Verdict: It's been fun to watch the various sports put together their own take on how to "dress" their stadiums to best support their teams and some of the tech innovations might have applications in the future, but there's no substitute for the real thing.

Here to stay: No, gate receipts make up a major portion of many sports club's income so if there's the option for a real person to take up a space, it will always be taken.

"Bubbles"

With social distancing and isolating we have seen "bubbles" moving from families to being implemented across all sports, whether it be team-bubbles isolating together as with the international cricket matches, entire leagues such as the NBA relocating to Florida to complete their season or even "bubbling" entire islands, as the UFC took over Yas "Fight" Island in Abu Dhabi for a series of fights.

Best: Surely the UFC and the UAE must take the crown for best-bubbling. An entire island, albeit one of a network of such islands across Abu Dhabi is an impressive feat. Mind you, the NBA are hauled up in Disneyland, so maybe they've got the better end of the deal!

Worst: Bubbles only work if everyone is abiding by the rules and sadly that is not always the case. During the cricket test series between England and West Indies, England's fast bowler Jofra Archer was forced to miss an entire 5 day match because he broke the bubble between games.

Verdict: Bubbles have proved a successful method for limiting player and team exposure to those outside and while it has weighed heavy on those players and staff isolated from their family and friends, it has for the most part eliminated spreading of the virus.

Here to stay: Yes. Until there is a vaccine it looks like the most sensible approach for limiting exposure so it looks like bubbles will be in place in one guise or another for some time.

Zoom calls

Used for everything from team meetings, training sessions, press conferences and even team socials, it's no wonder that Zoom's stock price is 5 times what is was in January. Communication throughout the world's shift to remote working has been vital and sport is no exception, teams have had to up their IT departments and budgets to make sure their top performers have been able to continue interfacing with the team management.

Best: The adverts. I think the only example I can think of when a Teams meeting went off without a hitch; without anyone talking over others, where the document being shared was not the wrong version and that the screen being shared was the one the presenter actually intended, is the Teams meeting they have on the advert for Teams. It's not always terrible, but it's never that perfect!

Worst: "Can everyone hear me?".. "Is someone not on mute?".. "Why can I hear myself?".. "Wait the kids are using all the bandwidth playing fortnite".. Ad infinitum. We've heard them all. Meeting "face to face" it certainly is not.

Verdict: Video communication is an essential tool in any business. The circumstances have forced early adoption on businesses that may not have had it as a priority, and this will simply mean everyone becoming a little more tech-savvy a little sooner, which is no bad thing.

Here to stay: For better or worse yes. It isn't going anywhere and with the shift from office based to majority remote based work forces it will become the rule rather than the exception.

eSports

After an initial peak in April and a boost in June for the launch of the new Playstation console, the figures are dropping off to fall back in line with the pre-covid trend - on the up of course, but not able to maintain the lockdown-boost that saw the sport-starved masses flock to the virtual alternative. Now that sports are back it seems likely that while some may continue to tune in from time to time, there will be few who favour this new medium over the traditional sporting smorgasbord.

Best: The partnership with the major sporting leagues early on during lockdown was a great move for eSports, attracting viewers who may not have been exposed to eSports with the familiarity of their favourite "real" plays taking on fellow athletes in virtual tournaments.

Worst: Pilot vs AI dogfight, it's time for the fearmongering to ramp up again as the AI controlled F-16 beat its human pilot competitor in a simulated dog fight.

Verdict: While eSports might have found a few more [hundred or even thousand] fans, for most there is no substitute for spectating at a live sporting event.

Here to stay: eSports - as an entertainment option in its own right: Yes, as an alternative to the real thing: No.