Without fans in the stadium one of the biggest advantages in sports is no longer available and the results of matches have shown this to be true.
One of the biggest advantages in all of sports can be a team’s fans, and with the current pandemic, teams no longer have access to this massive advantage. In many sports, fans can be used to make it hard for the other team to communicate as well as cheering for the home team.
Since live sporting events have returned, different leagues have been trying different things. In the NBA they play in a neutral location based in DisneyWorld and as a result there have been many underdog stories; the Phoenix Suns for example did not lose a single game at the neutral venue and nearly made the playoffs.
In European soccer, fans make a huge difference, especially since there is such a big gap between the bigger teams and the smaller teams. These smaller teams rely on their fans to help them have any chance against the other team.
In German soccer, the results of the games have been a lot more even and have seen the away team beating the home team a lot more when fans are not present compared to when fans are present. This same trend has been happening in leagues and sports all over the world.
There is an argument to be made that this style of competition is more fair and the match will be more even. This will result in the better team winning more often than not. However the fans are a part of the game and the players play the game for the fans; the whole point of the game is for the entertainment of the fans, and with the fans in the stadium, anything can happen.
As soon as it is safe and the fans return to the stadium the quality of games will be much better. Until then, the richer team with more money and better players will always win the game. This will only widen the gap between the best teams and the worst teams and is not good for sports as a whole.