Maybe this is will be the new normal. A time when stadiums become television studios rather than a place to meet your mates to watch the footy.
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Maybe coronavirus has accelerated the future to now, and crowd numbers are a thing of the past.
I was one of the many who didn't go to the Canberra Raiders game against the Gold Coast Titans on Friday night. Not because I didn't want to. I was stuck in the office dealing with the coronavirus chaos.
But if I wasn't, would I have still gone? I'd like to think yes, and I will be at the ACT Brumbies' derby battle against the NSW Waratahs on Sunday.
There will be many who make the same decision as me, and just as many wondering whether it's worth the risk.
The federal government left Australian sporting codes out to dry when it announced its advice to cancel large public gatherings from Monday. From Monday? Seriously.
Apparently coronavirus takes a break on the weekend and just watches the footy like everyone else.
If events are going to be discouraged from Monday, why not Friday? The Raiders pushed ahead with their game, which was understandable given they had just a few moments notice about the advice.
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The Brumbies will push ahead as well, but both teams are facing uncertain futures beyond this week and could find themselves playing in empty stadiums for the rest of the year.
The Raiders and Brumbies are scheduled to play a doubleheader in Auckland next weekend, but even that has complications.
The NRL says games from round two and beyond will be played at "closed stadiums".
There is no such edict from Super Rugby or Rugby Australia, as yet. So can rugby fans attend the doubleheader at Eden Park, but rugby league fans will be left out in the cold?
What about all the Raiders and Brumbies fans who have paid for flights and accommodation? When will they find out if they should, or can, still go?
The NRL says it is dealing with round one first, and then the issue of a multi-sport doubleheader.
It's likely both games will be shut to the public, but a final decision will likely be made early next week.
There's a huge economic impact of shutting those games. Teams will feel the pinch, especially those like the Brumbies who walk a financial tightrope every year and rely on increased crowds to boost the bottom line.
Hotels, clubs, restaurants and pubs will also take a sports-related hit, compounding the pain they're already feeling.
Raiders fever generated more than $3 million for the ACT economy during the NRL finals last year.
That was after one game - a preliminary final. Imagine the impact of an indefinite crowd ban, which is entirely possible given the nature of the coronavirus and the way it has shut down industries around the world.
It was inevitable the NRL and Super Rugby would be hit. That was clear when overseas sports started shutting down on Thursday and Friday.
Some are better positioned than others to absorb the financial deficit. Others, like Australian rugby, might struggle to recoup what they've lost and could be a crippling blow for organisations like the Brumbies.
The Brumbies have average a little more than 7000 per game at their three home matches so far this season. They've already battled smoke, fire, the mumps and thunderstorms, so coronavirus is just another left-field complication. To say this has been a bizarre Super Rugby season would be a gross understatement.
More low crowds, especially for what is usually their marquee fixture of the season, will set off alarm bells.
That's why the decision whether to play this weekend should never have been left to individual teams or individual codes.
The government should have taken it out of their hands and put a stop to the, "should I, or shouldn't I?" questions I could hear from offices around the capital.
It's completely unfair for the government to handball its decision to teams who depend on crowd revenue to run viable businesses.
Some scoffed when I hypothesised during the week that empty stadiums would become the new norm in the future.
I really hope they don't. Because the buzz of that Raiders preliminary final, or the sound when the Brumbies click into the attacking gear is something that's hard to replicate on television.
But maybe that's where we're heading. It reduces infection risk for something like coronavirus. The product can be catered to television. And governments won't have to sit on their hands when tough decisions need to be made.
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