July 2, 2020 | less than a minute read

Will fans come back to live sports events? The answer appears to be yes

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Ben Gipson

Partner

Get in touch

Ben Gipson

Partner

One key question facing all sports franchises is even if fans can come back to stadiums, will they?

At least in Texas, the answer appears to be yes, with teams selling out their 50% capacity for opening day of the Texas Collegiate League. This is high level baseball, but certainly not the major leagues -- but still fans came out in droves, despite concerns that sporting events with crowds can become "super spreader" hot spots.

Despite these risks, many fans wanted a return to normalcy that sports can provide - even in an environment where masks are prevalent, social distancing is enforced, and more roaming vendors are needed as more fans remain in their seats.

Texas has been swept by a wave of thousands of fresh COVID-19 cases in recent days, but fans came out for the TCL. League president Uri Geva, who also owns the Bombers and the Texarkana Twins, provided The Athletic with Tuesday’s attendance figures from the rest of the league: Frisco RoughRiders at Tulsa Drillers: 1,812 San Antonio Flying Chanclas at Amarillo Sod Squad: 2,153 Victoria Generals at Acadiana Cane Cutters: 400 Amarillo Sod Dogs at Texarkana Twins: 398 That’s a total of 5,532 fans. Eight teams play in Texas, while the Cane Cutters play in Louisiana and the Drillers are in Oklahoma. All three states have seen COVID-19 increases this week.

theathletic.com/...