Will COVID-19 be the needle that finally bursts the sports bubble?

It's going to be interesting seeing the ripple effect this lost summer has on football recruiting. The on-campus college camps have become, in effect, tryout or scouting camps for players. A college will have a couple hundred players on campus, and it's where a lot of the initial business of recruiting is done these days.
Other schools will glom onto the bigger camps as well. If LSU has a camp, for example, coaches from Tulane, Louisiana-Lafayette, McNeese State, etc., will come to work it. LSU might offer the top few players scholarships, but it's a good place for marginal players to get on the radar with smaller schools. It's pretty much a win-win for everyone involved.
With no camps this summer, teams are going to have to adjust to a different system for 2021.

 

The Packers, as mentioned in the tweet, have a $360 million corporate-reserve fund into which they can tap. Other pro-team owners whose non-sports worth is in the billions can tap into cash reserves. But for teams owned by owners/trusts/families for whom the pro sport is the primary business, the climate might force drastic alterations if seasons are altered or canceled.

 

The Mullet of the Plains approves of this change.
After employees receive threats, one city is forced to nix rule requiring face masks in businesses
Stillwater, Oklahoma, ditches rule on face masks in businesses - CNN

 

Those camps are definitely a "win" for the colleges ... invite ($$$) a couple hundred players, have coaches and current players put them through drills, scrimmages, etc., and maybe find a couple potential recruits.

My son was certainly not a big-time recruit, but he went with a friend to the Boise State camp between junior and senior year, and as a parent, I got to roam around the different areas. It was pretty clear when they found someone who was a potential recruit. For everyone else, it was a chance to test their skills, and meet other players from around the Northwest.

I can't imagine some of the talent that assembles for summer camps at LSU and other big-time programs.

 

I thought they didn't charge a ton of money for those? My understanding -- at least with football -- is that they have to charge something to comply with NCAA rules, but it's along the lines of a nominal fee that probably covers the costs of organizing and staffing the thing. They're not charging $500 a head, it's more along the lines of $50 a person. And then the real benefit for the schools and coaches is, like I said, as a recruiting tool. They can show off the campus, use it as an off the books recruiting visit for a few top players, and maybe unearth some hidden gems.
From the athlete's side, they get a chance to get in front of the decision makers and make a good impression. They go as sophomores and juniors hoping that it leads to something a year or two down the line.
Maybe I'm off base on that, but the players and high school coaches I've talked to in recent years seemed to indicate that was the way the game was played nowadays.

 

How long have you battled this inferiority complex vis-a-vis Gundy’s mullet? Trust me, nobody thinks *less* of you because Gundy’s mullet’s smarter than you. I think most of us would agree that it’s pretty admirable that someone of your limitations comes as close to breaking even as you occasionally do. Keep up the good work, champ!

 

For about 10 or 12 years now. Ever since he went on his "I'm a man! I'm 40" rant.

 

I will say, having two Arkansas Derbies today was a nice replacement for the Kentucky Derby not running.

 

Don't forget the "prospect camps." Could it get any less transparent?

 

Slightly off-topic, but this country really is like a bunch of little separate countries where certain attitudes are just so fortified in the locals.