WrestleMania should serve as a model of how sports can return without fans

Slate

"All those sports could very well first return to television from coronavirus quarantine without live audiences, to broadcast for the rest of us still stuck at home, and they could learn something from the pageant of WrestleMania," says David Bixenspan. "Tighter focus on the performers, their dynamic athleticism, and the drama within each specific matchup worked well in this setting. So did fun experimentation that took advantage of the new scope of the show and turned its limits into strengths. Relying on most of the old tricks and camera moves worked much less well. In team sports, what would replace the booming Jumbotron calls to action, the mascot running through the stands, the shots of jubilant and devastated opposing fans after a big score? Something will have to take their place, and maybe soon: MLB is threatening to come back in May, UFC is supposedly securing private islands to hold bouts, and the NFL is proceeding as if it has immunity. The leagues would do well to start considering how the likely post-pandemic format could shape what audiences see and what they want from the show—as it did in WrestleMania 36."