The Covid-19 lockdown has had a huge impact on the sports events industry and how event managers conduct their planning. This blog outlines five things we have learnt about events during the lockdown.
1) Virtual events have been a success
With the lockdown affecting our ability to safely hold events of mass gatherings, it was inevitable that virtual events would fill the void. The unknown element of virtual events was around how popular they would be, would people find value in entering a virtual experience and parting with precious earnings for something they would essentially be able to do in their garden or on the streets surrounding their house. The answer is yes, absolutely! Virtual events are giving people the ability to rank against their fellow competitors and keep a fitness goals in mind. More importantly the mass participation audience has also found a brilliant sense of community through virtual events and also offers a method of fundraising for charities, both of which we cover below.
However the window for virtual events is limited and likely to be superseded as soon as physical events of any size are able to be held.
2) Charities have continued to be supported as best possible
In March it was clear that with the postponement and cancellation of sporting events was going to have a knock on effect to charities and their income. We at All About Events Management saw this first hand with the Saddleback Fred Whitton Challenge, with the event postponed until 2021 all finances were split across two years, essentially halving the amount of money the non profit event could give to it's allocated charities.
However the UK have been brilliant at filling these gaps, individually by conducting challenges in their garden or through nation wide drives like the 2.6 Challenge, boosting critical fundraising targets.
3) Sports events create a huge sense of community
As we mentioned in point one, the uptake in virtual events has been huge and one reason for this is because it allows people to get that feeling of community and purpose from their own homes. Associated forums, blogs and story telling of individual feats of endurance from these virtual events have been a powerful and critical tool to get people through a difficult (and for some lonely) time.
4) The amount of people participating in mass participation events after lockdown has potential to go up
Bike shops are sold out of bikes, running products are in high demand and people are looking to keep themselves fit on an individual basis. This update of traditional mass participation sports could open up a whole new target audience to the sector, focusing of non elite and recreational first time athletes.
5) Events will need to find a new normal
With the continued international effort to find a vaccine ongoing, mass gatherings and events are going to have to find a new normal in the face of adversity to maintain social distancing. This may see entry numbers decrease and entry prices increase, combined with an increase in demand. This new normal will be seen across the board, however with the UK's response to the lockdown in mind and their desire to support charities and continue entering virtual events we believe the the changes will be positively met by the UK public.
Want to know more about how All About Sports Events could help you get your event back on it's feet after COVID-19, get in touch.
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