Sports

Have mainstream sports finally bounced back after 2020?

Published

1 year ago

December 22, 2021

Whilst many would have been eager to get back to a sports stadium and support their favorite team in person and in the stands, it would seem that it could take some time before the same kind of pre-pandemic numbers are reached.

It is clear that there are many supporters who have decided enough is enough and have worn their team’s colors to the stadium to encourage the team as they try and support them to a win, although recent reports suggest numbers are slow across the entire sporting world at the moment.

Of course, many will have used the campaigns that they were unable to attend venues in different ways, with some likely to have looked and used sportsbooks that offered them the best odds in sports betting available, whilst others would have been happy enough to shout at a TV screen when watching the action.

Premier League soccer attendances are yet to fully recover

According to some data that has been released, it would seem the attendance numbers that England’s Premier League used to experience are yet to return to the levels that had once been enjoyed in 2019/20.

Although the competition is just under halfway through the 21/22 campaign, earlier figures had suggested that attendances were down on those that were experienced in 19/20. However, it does need to be noted that the percentage is very small.

Teams such as Leeds United and Brentford have been able to see the figures be as high as possible as it is the first opportunity fans will have had to watch their team in the top-flight, although others will point to the fact that ticket prices have continued to increase and are perhaps unaffordable currently, especially after a hard 18 months or so.

The NFL shows interesting attendance data

Much like the Premier League, the National Football League (NFL) is one of the biggest sporting competitions around the world and one in which many will look to as a case study for whether mainstream sports have been able to fully bounce back after an impactful 2020.

Again, like the soccer competition, football seems to have had its ups and downs recently in regards to attendance, although there could be some outliers as to why the data currently being shown is what it currently is.

The league’s overall attendance has been relatively strong this season as fans have been able to return to stadiums all over America, with big crowds at venues such as the Las Vegas Radiers’ Allegiant Stadium (93.9% capacity) and the shared SoFi Stadium as the Los Angeles Rams (99.6%) and Los Angeles Chargers (98.2%) having been witnessed. However, it is also the first season in which fans of all three franchises will have been able to go to the new home of each team.

Unfortunately, there are NFL teams that are showing issues in regards to attendances, although this might be based on the fact that there are perhaps some sporting disclaimers that may have led to the fact that fans have opted to stay away. For instance, the Washington Football Team has yet to have announced an attendance of 80% capacity or over.

Teams in New York (New York Giants and New York Jets) and Detroit (Detroit Lions) are franchises that have been called out in the past for low attendances, though, which will have brought the overall number down but this does not mean that mainstream sports have not bounced back. Nonetheless, there are seven teams below 90% capacity overall compared to three in 2019 before the pandemic.

Conclusion

By simply looking at the attendances that can be seen at various sporting venues around the world, it would be safe to assume that mainstream sports have bounced back from the disaster of 2020, although perhaps not as quickly as many may have expected them to.

Sports

The Soccer Master Who Became MMA Legend – Pawel Kozlowski

Published

2 months ago

January 14, 2023

Jonathan Grilli

Pawel Kozlowski was born in 1992, in Gniezno, Poland. The footballer-turned-MMA fighter was born to rule the ring. He was destined to achieve greatness, and he did that in style. Early in his life, at 17, he played soccer to mesmerize the world with his natural talent, but his love and passion for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) never faded. His life took a significant turn during a break from soccer training, triggering an unrelenting interest in MMA. Taking advantage of his football break, he enrolled in a club with facilities for boxing, Thai boxing, wrestling, and Jiu Jitsu. It was a decisive moment in his life. After playing soccer for nine years, he decided to make a professional career in MMA.

The Shift – Training For MMA

When preparing for a professional MMA fight, Pawel takes a strategic approach, planning all the tactics eight weeks ahead of the event. Usually, he trains 2-3 times a day and maintains a balanced and nutritious diet for this purpose. Before going into the ring, he follows a special diet to maintain weight.

The MMA Early Days – Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

In 2010, Pawel Kozlowski started training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. After a year of toil and hard work, he finally tasted success at the Austrian National Championship. Since then, he has never looked back, winning the World Pro Jiu Jitsu Trials and the European Championship. In 2016, Paweł Kozłowski became the national champion of Poland and Austria in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. At the WKF World Championships in Italy, he won the runners-up medal in the Sanda category and a Bronze Medal in the MMA category. He also won the Qualification for the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Championship, which took place in Abu Dhabi. BJJ Fanatics website lists Pawel among the three best BJJ players from Poland for 2016. In 2014, he joined the Vienna edition of the charity action “You will not keep the Master – Sportsmen for Children.” In July 2016, he established the Alpha Jiu-Jitsu Academy to train aspirant individuals.

Greatest Achievements

Pawel’s most significant career moments came at the WKF World Championship, where he won Silver in Sanda and Bronze in MMA. He is a multiple Austrian and Polish National Champion and has won the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam twice. In MMA, he has 5 professional bouts, all of which he won in the first round and all by Submission. Pawel has also defeated the 2012 European champion twice.

The Pride Of His Parents

Pawel’s father always wanted him to become a soccer player, and he was not very happy with him not playing football anymore. Still, he continued to make a name for himself in MMA, making his parents proud of his unprecedented achievements.

Fighting with an injured knee

The most challenging fight for Pawel was the fight in the final of the Open Championship, held in Croatia in 2012. It was his first fight after sustaining a knee injury, and he only had 10 days to prepare for it. In the final, he was leading his opponent with a 2:0 score line. Unfortunately, his stamina was running out, and the opponent took full advantage and won back-to-back points to lead with a 2: 6 score line. However, he got two more points and eventually won the fight with a 7:6 score line, with only 10 seconds to go for the final whistle.

Pawel Kozlowski – The Legend

At pro-MMA, Pawel Kozlowski is unbeaten with a record of 5-0-0, securing all his wins in the first round. He is also a six-time European Championship medalist in Jiu Jitsu, having won over 400 matches with another 500 Jiu Jitsu fights worldwide. He has won three European titles and the Grand Slam in Abu Dhabi, the most prestigious tournament in this sport. Pawel released an instructional DVD about a technique he has developed called the “GremlinLock,” thus becoming a legend of the sport.