With COVID-19 cases surging, the Japanese government has declared a state of emergency that will prohibit any spectators from attending the Tokyo Olympics in the host city and surrounding areas.
The ban — announced July 8 by the International Olympic Committee, Japanese government and local organizers — means the Summer Games, already delayed from last year by the pandemic, will now largely play out as a television event. As such, the Tokyo Games will lose hundreds of millions in ticket revenue. Organizers had expected to generate some $800 million from this revenue source.
The competition is scheduled to begin July 21 with some events, including soccer matches, kicking off two days ahead of the July 23 opening ceremony. It will conclude Aug. 8.
The state of emergency begins July 12 and extends through Aug. 22.
Meanwhile, an ESPN report, citing unnamed sources, indicates that a COVID-19 outbreak in the camp of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is threatening his third bout with Deontay Wilder, currently set for July 24 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The bout is scheduled to air on pay-per-view on streaming service ESPN+ and FOX Sports.
The continuing impact of the virus comes as fans are returning to U.S. ballparks and arenas, a number of which are now permitting full capacity.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said during his July 6 state of the league address that with fan arrivals in the latter part of the regular season and over 1 million tickets being sold during the playoffs, the league's financial picture improved somewhat amid the pandemic. Game-day revenues, driven by tickets sales, account for about 40% of the league's revenue base, and the league was expecting a significant drop for its 72-game truncated regular season. With the late-season and playoff attendance push, Silver said the decline might be closer to a third, instead of 40%.
As to the Olympics, the IOC and Japanese organizers determined in March that international fans would not be allowed to attend the games as a safety precaution against the pandemic. However, two weeks ago, the parties announced that venues could be filled to 50% of capacity, albeit with crowds not to exceed 10,000 at any venue.
The state of emergency forced the spectator reversal.
According to the Johns Hopkins resource center, Japan has had about 810,000 COVID-19 cases and nearly 14,900 deaths. Only 15% of Japanese citizens are fully vaccinated. Tokyo reported 896 new cases July 8.
The IOC on its website indicated that it, the Japanese government, the International Paralympic Committee, the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee and the Tokyo metropolitan government met and decided that spectators would not be allowed into any venues in the city and surrounding areas during the Olympic Games.
The parties said that under the current policy, in areas where emergency measures are not in force, local government authorities will meet and decide specific measures in consultation with the local governors, based on the situation in the attendant area.
To that end, some events, including baseball, which is being played in Fukushima, will reportedly permit a limited number of spectators.
The parties are also evidently still holding out hope for yet another change in direction. According to the joint statement, if there is a significant change in the state of infection, the aforementioned parties will convene "immediately to review the spectator capacity."
The parties will make a decision about spectators for the Paralympic Games after the conclusion of the Olympics. The Paralympic Games are scheduled to begin Aug. 24.
In surveys, the Japanese people have expressed opposition to the games taking place at all.
But at this point, the Tokyo Games are continuing to push forward. The IOC relies heavily on media rights, registering about three-quarters of its revenues from sales to companies like NBCUniversal Media LLC and Discovery Inc., which are scheduled to present the competition in the U.S. and across Europe, respectively. The rights-holders look to generate ad sales and distribution gains from their games coverage.
NBCU is scheduled to allocate some $1.4 billion to the IOC for the Tokyo Games.