Sport and COVID: What do we know?

Sport and COVID: What do we know?
University of Reading Public Lecture by Professor James Reade (Economics)

Sport, like most aspects of our lives, has been heavily disrupted by Covid-19. Even as a vaccine begins to be rolled out, sporting events are being cancelled, rescheduled, or adapted to fit Covid-19. Sport without fans has become normal, yet before March 2020 less than 200 elite football matches had ever taken place without fans in the stadium. Removing all fans has affected sports clubs financially, and arguably also on the field – a number of academic studies have shown that this affects outcomes, especially for the visiting team. Sports events are mass events, and before now scant attention has been paid to their potential public health risk. Yet how much did they contribute to the first wave? Have they contributed at all in the second one?

In this talk Professor James Reade, Head of Department of Economics, will review the evidence that has been accumulated over the last year.