Anyone who knows me knows that I love sports and music. Sporting events and concerts are major parts of my life (and enjoying them with my lovely wife is one of the things we like to do together), but that all changed when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. Now, we’re facing a strange new world – just what will sporting events and concerts be like after a sense of “normalcy” has returned to the world.

With sporting events and concerts, people will be screened before they can enter the arena. If someone even has an elevated body temperature, they will be forbidden from entering the arena (I am sure (HAHA!!) that they will refund the ticket price). And there will be several instances of violence when security has to physically remove someone from the gate.

The arena itself will have something very much like what Walgreens or grocery stores are doing – there will be little dots on the floor to indicate how close people should be standing together in the concession lines. Once again, if someone is to violate those rules, they will be removed from the arena. Bathrooms will be the same way and you’ll probably have some sort of monitor to ensure that people wash up afterwards.

Finally, the actual arena themselves. You will have one seat in between each fan – in essence, you’re cutting the crowd in half. There will no longer be the “fan lines” where the kids can high-five the athletes before they enter the field/court/rink, they will probably back the fans up about 10 feet from the playing field and they will NOT be sitting close to the teams. And say goodbye to the T-shirt cannon and the cheerleaders going around the stands to do giveaways during timeouts.

Are ticket prices going to go up? Damn straight they will. The owners aren’t going to eat those profits from half the crowd being prevented from entering the arena, so more $$ will be charged for the individual tickets. Also expect to see the concessions/souveniers prices will go up too…just another way for the owners to pull in the money they’re losing from not being able to put the butts in the seat.

Outdoor sports may be slightly different, but you’ll probably see some similarities (distancing at concessions, seats left open) and concerts will be the same. We’re going to enter a brand new world and, for some, it is going to suck. But if it prevents outbreaks like we’ve just gone through, do you think it is worth it?