When pro soccer returns to Denmark, ending its COVID-19 hiatus as early as next month, games will be played in empty stadiums, but the FC Midtjylland team has devised a way to get fans involved.
The club will erect massive video boards outside its MCH Arena, facing a parking lot where more than 2,000 designated spots will serve as a sporting version of the old-fashioned drive-in movie.
Fans will watch the game together _ or, at least, in close proximity _ chanting and singing from their cars. Images of this unorthodox crowd will be shown inside the venue so players won't feel so alone.
If that sounds odd, the U.S. should take note. When American sports return, and spectators are eventually allowed back in, there could be big changes.
"People enjoy being in a stadium, I get that," said Karin Michels, chair of epidemiology at UCLA's Fielding School of Public Health. "It's possible, but the experience will be different."
The new normal at ballparks could involve more than cheering through face masks. It could mean having your temperature checked as you enter and sitting with empty seats on either side. That hot dog from the concession stand? It might come hermetically sealed.
The further we remain from a reliable treatment or vaccine for COVID-19, the more extreme things could get, experts say. Imagine teams of ushers wearing masks and gloves, constantly wiping down railings. Or security guards threatening to eject anyone who violates social-distancing rules.
"What happens when someone coughs?" asked Gil Fried, chair of sports management at the University of New Haven in Connecticut. "There are not going to be any clear solutions."
