Sporting Events Returning Post-COVID19 Pandemic
A marketing graduate at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Jennifer Heiner has served as a retail director with a New Jersey-based running company since 2019. Jennifer Heiner has organized several large group runs in preparation for the New York City Marathon, including the Three Bridges Runs, which she ran in as a pace group leader.
An avid sports fan, Jennifer Heiner is excited to see that sporting events across all genres are returning to center stage after the height of the COVID19 pandemic. This includes road races, as well as professional sports which are allowing fans to return to the stands. Most recently, the NBA has allowed for near max capacity in its indoor areas, with the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets hosting over 15,000 people per game, with strict COVID vaccine requirements in place; nearly 90% of those in attendance were vaccinated, giving those going peace of mind that they could enjoy the game without having to worry as much about infection.
This past Memorial Day weekend, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) held the Indy 500 with over 135,000 people in the stands, by far the largest in person sporting event since the pandemic halted sporting events in March 2020. In fact, the IMS is so big, that “the 2.5-mile rectangular oval track — which has 257,327 permanent seats and can host as many as 400,000 fans on race day — could fit all 14 Big Ten stadiums inside its infield.(58,973), Indiana’s Memorial Stadium (52,626), Rutgers’ SHI Stadium (52,454), Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium (50,850) and Northwestern’s Ryan Field (47,130).
IMS’ social media accounts have posted similar graphics over the years showing how large the track is, including one that put the White House, Vatican City, Taj Mahal, Roman Colosseum, Yankee Stadium, Rose Bowl, Liberty Island and Churchill Downs in the infield with room to spare — and that’s not even including the grandstands.” (Every Big Ten Stadium Can Fit Inside Indianapolis 500 Infield — Sports Illustrated Ohio State Buckeyes News, Analysis and More)
That is MASSIVE. This is a great sign of all good things to come in the sporting world as we make strides against the COVID19 pandemic with the continued vaccine rollout. Can’t wait for a summer full of sports, running, and spectating in person!
