With the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, various well-known and significant sports events have been cancelled. Having multiple basketball players, like Rudy Gobert and Kevin Durant, tested positive for the virus, the NBA announced that their season would be entirely cancelled to ensure the safety of all players and fans. Along with basketball players, soccer players including Callum Hudson-Odoi, Chelsea player and head coach of ArsenalMikel Arteta, have also tested positive, leading the Premier League in England to cancel their games. The majority of Europa League games and Champions League have announced that they will also stop their games to prevent further dangers concerned with the pandemic. Cancellation of major sports leagues have been disappointing many avid fans who have been looking forward to the games.
“I was surprised and disappointed when I saw that the NBA suspended their whole season,” said Riley Kim (11), a passionate fan of the NBA. “I certainly knew that the problem with the coronavirus was spreading across a larger range of countries and especially the United States since many were tested positive in the last couple of weeks. Although I am sad that the NBA cancelled their season, it is understandable because many basketball players were reported to be tested positive, so it is better to end the season to prevent further spread of the virus among players and result in infecting others as well.”
However, sports teams have found alternate ways to provide a source of entertainment for fans. The NBA 2K, a basketball simulation video game, is streamed live for basketball fans to keep them entertained even though the real season is gone. On NBA’s YouTube channel, they are uploading multiple full game highlights for various NBA 2K tournaments just like they do for real NBA tournaments, providing a way for fans to continue to enjoy the sport. Likewise, in place of actual soccer matches, football fans have been entertaining themselves through playing FIFA, a popular football simulation video game series, as well.
“I believe that sports teams are doing well in providing other ways of entertainment for their fans,” said Addy Choi (11), a fan of sports simulation games. “At first it was depressing to hear that the NBA cancelled their entire season, but I think that they are doing a great job in putting in effort to entertain disappointed basketball fans so that they can still enjoy watching the sport at home. I checked out game highlights for NBA 2K tournaments and enjoyed them a lot, so I think that these alternate methods are doing well in replacing the actual games.”
Aside from such games that are providing a source of entertainment for sports fans, the well-known game Connect Four has also been trending on Twitter. With people creating separate accounts to allow people to play the game across Twitter, Connect Four on Twitter is also giving a unique source of entertainment. Amid the coronavirus, sports teams are portraying effective and safe ways that can entertain their fans while social distancing and staying at their homes.