The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world in numerous ways.
Everyone has to wear a mask in public, large gatherings can no longer occur and sporting events have little to no fans this year. For sports, expect the changes due to the pandemic to stay in place for the foreseeable future.
The sports world has seen some innovative ways to combat the virus while providing the nation with the sporting events they love.
The NBA saw the most success with their bubble. During the stint in the bubble, zero players were infected by the virus and the league was able to complete a successful season, crowning the Los Angeles Lakers champions. Unfortunately for the NFL, its organizations are too large to enclose in a bubble.
The NFL has had to cancel and reschedule multiple games through the first eight weeks of this season due to coronavirus outbreaks. Luckily for the league, with proper rescheduling, there has not been any drastic changes to the schedule.
As far as fans go, teams are slowly allowing them back into the stadium to enact home-field advantage. Even though this is a step in the right direction, do not expect things to go back to normal anytime soon.
Once there is a vaccine in place, players will be properly protected from the virus. For fans, they will most likely not be required to have a vaccine shot to enter a game. For this reason, organizations will still have to regulate how many fans are allowed to be in a stadium at once.
In a perfect world, one would hope that 2021 brings everything back to normal. Reality check: this pandemic is one of the worst things this country has had to face in a very long time. Be patient and understand that with the proper precautions things will get back to normal, but do not expect normalcy within the next year or two.