The Pandemic Impact on Sport in New Zealand

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The COVID-19 pandemic became a major disruption for many spheres and especially the sector of sport. Despite the fact that in New Zealand, the pandemic was not as severe as in some other nations, the restrictions imposed by the government made it difficult and sometimes impossible to conduct sports competitions. Such events are among the main areas where the virus can spread quickly and affect large numbers of people (Smith et al., 2022). From the perspective of the provision of major and mega sports events in New Zealand, organizers will have to adhere to the established rules, introduce unconventional logistics, utilize protection mechanisms, and ensure universal vaccination.

Before analyzing and presenting the implication of the pandemic on the contemporary and future sports events in New Zealand, it is crucial to asset the past experience. As mentioned above, the spreading of the virus caused the New Zealand government to introduce restrictions which ultimately impacted the sports sector. Specifically, the country was among the first ones on the planet to launch a nationwide lockdown which put numerous spheres on hold. As a result, the sports sector also was affected by the new restriction, which prevented many competitions and, subsequently, events from taking place. Thus, in the first half of 2020, there were many instances of sports events being cancelled due to the newly introduced lockdown. One of the key examples of such events was the cancelling of the Super Rugby competition, which involved teams from Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, and the Pacific Islands (“Briefing,” 2020). The matches held as part of the tournament were suspended, which led to considerable financial losses for the teams participating in the competition.

At the same time, in the second half of 2020, many tournaments, including the Super Rugby competition, resumed, yet certain restrictions continued to be applied. For instance, the main limitation related to the provision of sports events in the second half of 2020 was that audiences were not allowed to attend such events. Essentially, all sports events took place behind closed doors, and no supports were present during them. In order to support sports teams, the government designed a special financial aid package which sought to assist organizations in addressing their problems arising from the pandemic restrictions. Specifically, the government allocated 265 million New Zealand dollars to the industry to support it through a difficult period (“NZ gives sports,” 2020). Thus, despite imposing considerable restrictions, the national government understood the potential negative impact on the sports sector and provided assistance to offset at least a share of the losses.

Before exploring the current and future state of affairs in the sports sector in New Zealand, it is also important to analyze the situation in 2021. Due to the outbreak of a new variant of the COVID-19 virus, New Zealand had to cancel traditionally one of the largest sports events in the country, the men’s and women’s rugby test series (Orme-Claye, 2021). The All Blacks team’s game with South Africa, which had to take place in Auckland on 2 October, and the Black Ferns team’s game with Australia as part of the O’Reily Cup were cancelled. Thus, the country once again had to limit the provision of sports events in order to protect the safety of the citizens and athletes. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that the pandemic and the lockdowns which accompanied it had a significant negative effect on the sports sector in New Zealand in 2020 and 2021.

Now, it is possible to discuss the current and future aspects of the provision of sports events in New Zealand. Today, the country has a clear mechanism in place which regulates all of the sport and recreational events in the country. Specifically, all of the events are subject to the COVID-19 Protection Framework, which divides all situations into three distinct categories and thus determines the restrictions which need to be observed. The Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 is one of the events which took place in March which utilized the framework. Moreover, the tournament received an exemption from the framework rules, namely, it was allowed to increase the number of possible attendees at its venues beyond the framework limit (“Women’s Cricket,” 2022). At the same time, the organizers of the cup also had to introduce their own changes to the competition arrangement. For instance, the teams were allowed to have more substitutes and reserves in order to replace players who were diagnosed with the COVID-19 (“ICC,” 2022). Essentially, the organizers had to be more flexible to conduct the event without facing any major problems.

Based on the information presented above, it is possible to present the implications of the pandemic in terms of the provision of future sports events in New Zealand. The first implication is that all organizers will need to adhere to the established rules, such as the COVID-19 Protection Framework. Essentially, organizers and tournaments will have to observe all of the stipulations presented in such documents to avoid violating laws and forced cancellation of events by authorities. As a result, organizers will have to be constantly in contact with the local officials to arrange their events in accordance with the rules. The next implication for future sports events during the pandemic will be the use of an unconventional approach to logistics during the provision. For instance, DHL Super Rugby Pacific matches in the season 2022 will encounter date changes and venue swaps (McKay, 2022). Therefore, organizers have to be able to navigate the problems by embracing new approaches to logistics, for example, by keeping alternative venue options and reserve dates for postponed matches.

Another considerable implication for the provision of sports events in New Zealand is the use of the most effective health protection mechanisms. For example, stadiums and other types of venues must check the body temperature of all attendees and ensure that they have masks on to prevent the spreading of the virus. Additionally, it is possible to introduce multiple entry gates to keep attendees apart. Finally, the fourth implication for the provision of sports events in the country is the universal vaccination for all participants, including athletes and audience members. The pandemic is likely to continue in the near future, and vaccines are the best solution for reducing the impact of the virus (Kodera et al., 2022). Therefore, it is reasonable to ensure that all people who participate in sports events are vaccinated.

Professionals engaged in the provision of major and mega sports events in New Zealand will need to take this into consideration. First of all, due to the existing COVID-19 management frameworks, organizers will need to adhere to strict rules governing the provision of events during the pandemic. Moreover, organizers will have to rely on innovative logistics approaches and better health protection mechanisms to conduct events without risks for both teams, players, and audience members. Finally, organizers will need to determine that all participants are vaccinated to contain the spread of the virus.

References

Briefing to the incoming minister of sport and recreation. (2020). New Zealand Government.

ICC tweak playing conditions for Women’s World Cup with an eye on Covid. (2022). ICC.

Kodera, S., Rashed, E., &, Hirata, A. (2022). Estimation of real-world vaccination effectiveness of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines against Delta and Omicron variants in Japan. Vaccines, 10(3), 430–443.

McKay, B. (2022).Super Rugby Pacific on tenterhooks as New Zealand teams navigate COVID-19 outbreaks. ABC News.

NZ gives sports sector $157 million boost to get through COVID-19. (2020). Reuters.

Orme-Claye, T. (2021). New Zealand rugby tests cancelled due to national lockdown. Insider Sport.

Smith, J., Hopkins, S., Turner, C., Dack, K., Trelfa, A., Peh, J., & Monks, P. (2022). Public health impact of mass sporting and cultural events in a rising COVID-19 prevalence in England. Epidemiology and Infection, 150, 1–9.

Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 granted Ministry of Health exemption on gathering limits. (2022). Stuff.

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The Pandemic Impact on Sport in New Zealand

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