Our cultural and sporting events will take some time to rebuild once this is all over and they will not be the same.
People will review what their entertainment should be and they will be more considerate about how and where they spend money as well as how they want to see their money spent by the sporting clubs they support.
So, what will the new ‘events and entertainment’ normal be? When will it start to take shape and how long will the changes last?
The Great Depression of the 1930s saw many changes throughout the world but one of the greatest and longest-lasting was the early adoption of “New Journalism”, a new genre of literature which saw its way into the theatre and movies and grew in popularity into the 60s and 70s.
There was an urge among the creative greats of the time to record the truth and suffering of ordinary people. The excesses of the 1920s were forgotten as authors like George Orwell and much later Tom Wolfe used a highly individual and personal style of writing that could even be described as reporting, in their literature.
The media and the arts were expected to tell the stories of those affected by the Great Depression and this saw the beginning of public opinion polling to inform this new style of journalism.
The arts didn’t abandon creativity nor novelists fiction, but many added a political message to their work.
Entertainment, by necessity, changed forever. Card games, board games and puzzles became more popular and 1935 saw the launch of Monopoly, still one of the most popular board games today.
In the US, major sports like baseball saw players take salary cuts and minor leagues eliminated. Theatre suffered and many talented people fled New York to work in Hollywood, as the movie industry boomed.
Australians turned to sport to find their Great Depression heroes, with the most famous being cricketer Don Bradman and racehorse Phar Lap. Tens of thousands of Australians depended on sustenance payments – known then as the ‘Susso’ – merely to survive, so paying for entertainment just wasn’t an option.
The situation we face now has similarities. With hundreds of thousands of Australians depending on government payments – JobSeeker and JobKeeper – the cost of professional sport and player payments are being questioned.
Venues, including theatres and cinemas are closed and there is a huge surge in free online entertainment, much of it provided by previously highly-paid entertainers, either striving to remain relevant or committed to giving back to their fan base.
The disappearance of events has been a huge disruption to our culture. Even during the Great Depression, the Olympic Games infamously went on in Berlin (1936) and the Empire Games were conducted in Sydney (1938).
The last big international event the world saw prior to this pandemic was the Women’s T20 World Cup final in Melbourne in March this year.
Since then, events of all sizes have been cancelled or postponed for solid reasons and the events, arts and sporting industries are hurting. Fans are hurting. Athletes, promoters, comedians, actors and events staff are hurting.
Here in Melbourne, the popular events capital of the world, our economy is suffering. The Victorian Government has announced the Experience Economy Survival Package backing local sport, tourism and creative industries.
The big question is not whether we can get events back on schedule, but how we can get events back on the agenda in the safest possible manner.
This is where we should be putting a large degree of effort. The focus should be on entertaining people, building a following and steadily improving the economics of events.
The events industry, including sport and entertainment, but also conferences and exhibitions, needs to find its new normal.
It won’t be easy, but maybe there will need to be a more equitable distribution of income with those people working behind the scenes sharing the spoils more fairly with those on the stage or the sporting arena.
An egalitarian approach could bring events back to our lives sooner.
There has to be a rethink of our events strategy. Yes, we probably need aspirational sporting heroes and movie stars, but more importantly, we need community involvement. A sustainable events industry and a reason to get up and go out each day, when it is safe and prudent to do so.
Events reimagined will need innovative strategies from all levels of government, sport, the events industry and the arts.
