Sport and the fourth wall ...

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The German Bundesliga’s return to action at the weekend, playing games in empty stadia, will be closely monitored by all sports.

They will  be keen to see how games work without spectators, and how teams adhere to social distancing in the midst of contact, competitive sport.

Some weekend reports said viewing figures for the games were poor. Not even the novelty of watching a game after a long eight week absence could tempt all fans back.
Perhaps sport has to understand just how much has changed since coronavirus halted every aspect of our lives- not just the 90 minutes on a Saturday afternoon, or the evenings rinkside for ice hockey.
Instead of trying to pick up where they left off ,sport may need to find completely new models to get through the next 12-18 months before perhaps regrouping once more.
And, if there is only a limited audience, to watch spectator-free matches, their problems are only just beginning.
Borussia Monchengladbach honoured their fans with cut out images of them in the empty seats. A neat idea which could generate some cash, but it’s still like watching a silent movie.
Sky, realising that sport without sound, is a pretty dull event, offered subscribers the choice between a soundtrack of actual noise from the stadium - the lone voices of players and coaches ringing round the empty ground - or with recorded chanting and singing.
That wall of noise is an important part of any sports event. Players thrive on it, cower from it, - it can shape an entire game, drive teams off the ropes, and create lifelong memories for all who were there the night trophies were hoisted aloft. Piping in a soundtrack is TV sport’s equivalent of elevator music placed against a live gig in front of tens of thousands of fans.
Sport now has its own fourth wall, and needs to find ways of breaking it down.
And for clubs which operate without the riches of TV money, the task is even greater.
Take ice hockey - a hugely expensive minority sport. Without gate receipts and the regular cash they generate, it is hard to see many clubs surviving.
The market for live streams and webcasts has grown, but, again, a live game without two sets of partisan fans going full throttle, would surely sound like a scrimmage game played by the guys after training on a Tuesday afternoon.
It feels alien. There’s a massive marketing job to sell this new, halfway house of a product to people who would rather be in the stands, yelling, screaming, singing and losing themselves in the moments that live sport offers. Even sports played in silence, such as snooker and golf, need that audience to create tension and atmosphere.
Deleting that option - perhaps temporarily, possibly forever - means diluting the passion, the buzz, the adrenalin, the rush, the hopes, dreams and despair which come with being a sports fan.
The road back for sport is going to be much tougher than any of them ever imagined...

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