Schumpeter, Creative Destruction, and GAA Live Streams: What can Sport take to Post-Pandemic Ireland?

The Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter described the economy as being in a permanent state of change. A state of almost constant chaos, where new products, techniques and ideas are constantly undermining existing ones. This is what Schumpeter termed as “creative destruction”, implying that recessions and crises are the necessary product of innovation. Because in a crisis what is radical becomes mainstream and what’s mainstream becomes redundant. Covid-19 has opened an Overton window for sport, giving us an opportunity to reimagine the way we play our games. And we shouldn’t be afraid of innovation, on the contrary, we should embrace it. They say to never let a good crisis go to waste, and the pandemic has been the catalyst for much-needed change with some novel introductions across the sporting spectrum. But do they have a place post-Covid?Accessibility:The pandemic has seen many sporting bodies join the digital transformation which has been pervasive in all sections of society. The GAA, which has traditionally lagged behind others in bridging the IT gap, has not escaped. Restricted by crowd-capacity guidelines, and at times forced to close the doors to supporters completely, GAA clubs across the country tried their hand at live-broadcasting the games being played on their club grounds. Pre-Covid, this service was a rarity, with streams only offered towards the latter stages of competitions by national broadcasters or local media outlets. It’s never been the case that each round of club action has been broadcast live, and clubs must be commended for bringing the action to many housebound GAA zealots. There is a tremendous opportunity in this.Club-County Play-off:If GAA can learn anything from the Covid crisis it’s that there is a better way to run fixtures. A better balance is possible and what is more evident is that a massive appetite for club action exists. Cork has witnessed one of the most exciting GAA championships in both codes over the last number of months, the UCC-Blackrock encounter in the hurling semi-final is your perfect example. The split-season also favors third-level competitions, who have been one of the biggest victims of lengthy inter-county schedules. The challenge now is to bite the bullet and put a structure in place that ensures we never see club versus county again.Water-Breaks:Water-breaks have been the marmite of the GAA Championships this Summer. Due to restrictions on Maor Uisces entering the field of play, these mid-half interludes have become part-and-parcel of the game, with the referee calling a brief water break between the 15th and 20th minute of either half. Those opposing the new introduction argue that the break in play can kill a team’s momentum, allowing their opponent an opportunity to regroup and get into the game; a luxury not afforded pre-Covid. Games can now be divided into quarters, with a different tactical approach. There are already rumors that Croke Park may maintain the rule even when things are somewhat back to normal, a contentious decision to make.Hybrid-Training Models:With a bit of luck, this will be staying in 2020. At the height of lockdown, clubs of all disciplines made use of collaborative technologies when in-person training was not possible, but it was a poor substitute for the real deal. Several Irish sporting bodies plan on maintaining some element of online-training post-Covid, with hopes of weekly conditioning sessions taking place over Zoom. Logistically, it makes these types of sessions more accessible by eliminating the need to travel for gym sessions, but their long-term place in Irish sport seems doubtful. Collaborative technologies have definitely enhanced the communications aspect of team sports and if they are sidelined for training purposes, they may keep their place by facilitating team meetings.The Rule Book:All sporting bodies in the country have had to adjust their rule books to mitigate the threat of the virus. Some of these amendments have been less welcome than others, the ban on dressing-rooms and dugout usage for GAA games in particular. However, some of the new hygiene guidelines could earn their place on the post-Covid playing field. Too many cooks spoil the broth, and the cap on team-personnel allowed inside the wire has been received well by many. So too has the clampdown on nose-clearing and spitting, which can now be considered an offence by the referee. Communal water-bottles could be a thing of the past with the guidelines on individual water-bottles looking like it could be set to stay; many people are waking up to how lax we were to hygiene pre-pandemic. The introduction of penalty shootouts in GAA to ensure an on-the-day winner has also resulted in plenty of added excitement to the Covid-Championships this year, but are they just a means of deciding winners?The coming months will see the governing bodies cast a magnifying glass over what has and hasn’t worked this year. Some changes, crowd restrictions in particular, will be lifted almost immediately once public health advice dictates in favor, but some aspects of these modified games may be here to stay. Maybe it’s for the better.