How empty stadiums have contributed to the fight against Covid-19

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An NBA player tested positive shortly before the prediction in Oklahoma City, forcing the game to be canceled. Within days, all the major sports leagues in the United States had closed their doors.

The ramifications of the Covid-19 pandemic continue to be felt in every corner of American life, as the nation approaches a full year of personal and economic devastation. Nearly 400,000 Americans have died from Covid-19.

Amid the turmoil, sports teams and cities opened up empty facilities for relief efforts. Due to their day-to-day experiences with traffic, crowd control, and project management, arenas and stadiums have proven to be practical as Covid-19 test sites and food banks.

During the 2020 election season, some have become early voting and election day centers, allowing Americans easier access to the vote while maintaining social distancing guidelines.

Now the stadiums are preparing for the next phase of fighting the pandemic. Health officials and local governments are working with sports facilities across the country to be used as vaccination centers.

Sports leagues finally restarted in the summer with only crowds limited to a few selected events. Many stands remain silent, but their usefulness is evident as the New Year approaches. The abrupt shift seen in 2020 from places of entertainment to critical resource centers has provided images that are often hard to believe.

Graduates of Little Elm High School stand six feet from each other during graduation ceremonies at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth on May 21.

The pandemic in the parking lots

The Covid-19 pandemic has also caused a crippling economic crisis. More than 20 million Americans lost their jobs at the end of April.
Pressure on food banks quickly followed the March lockdowns. Katie Fitzgerald, chief operating officer of Feeding America, a network of 200 food banks and 60,000 pantry and meal programs, told CNN in late March that food banks reported a 40% increase in demand.

“It’s the speed at which it hits us that makes us so difficult to face,” Fitzgerald said. “The current inventories we have in place were not designed to serve the number of people who need help now.”

To help with distribution, power centers have been set up by charities and organizations in stadiums across the country.

Non-perishable food items are expected to be delivered to the United Center in Chicago in April.
People wait for access to a mobile pantry at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on April 24.

The lines exceed expectations

Stadium parking lots in spring and summer, filled years ago by heels, staff and street vendors, have instead become pop-up tents for Covid-19 testing.

Nurses and health care practitioners administered PCR nasal tests at a multitude of sports facilities, as state and federal governments rushed to understand just how widespread the virus had become.

Massive parking lots kept cars away from main roads, freeing traffic. The sheer volume of those in need, however, meant the lines would stretch beyond anything expected.

People in vehicles wait to enter a driving Covid-19 test site at Miller Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Vehicles line up at a Covid-19 test site at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Election season is coming

Arenas and stadiums across the country opened in the fall for an additional purpose: polling stations during the 2020 election cycle. This gave many voters another way to submit ballots and stay safe by limiting proximity to others and potential exposure to Covid-19.
Initially, polling stations in Atlanta during Georgia’s June primary suffered from long queues and fewer election staff, hampered by the realities presented by the pandemic.
In response, the Atlanta Hawks opened the State Farm Arena as the November voting center for Fulton County, easily accessible by public transportation.

“State Farm Arena is an ideal solution to help us serve thousands of voters while maintaining social distancing requirements,” said Mary Carole Cooney, chair of the Fulton County Registration and Election Board in June. “We appreciate the Hawks for providing us with this creative solution.”

The NBA had more than 20 of its franchises offering their stadiums for polling and polling stations. Other sports league franchises have also mobilized to increase access to safe voting.
Voters cast their ballot at the Forum Arena in Inglewood, California.
Voting booths are installed at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.

Hope springs eternally

Vaccines cleared for emergency use in December by the Food and Drug Administration have given the nation a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

The stages that have contributed to previous efforts by food banks, testing and voting for Covid-19 were well placed for the next phase of pandemic relief.
On Friday, Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles became a hub for vaccine distribution, soon capable of inoculating 12,000 people every day according to officials.
Medical workers in their cars wait for Covid-19 vaccinations in a parking lot at Dodger Stadium. On Friday, the stadium began its new role as a vaccination center.
First responders and healthcare workers will be the first to receive immunizations at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Mayor Eric Garcetti called it “the country’s largest vaccination site,” urging eligible residents to get vaccinated. Other stadium programs are underway.

David Ortiz, chief information officer for the LA City Fire Department, told CNN’s Paul Vercammen that working with the Dodgers and using their stadium field is a boon to the county’s vaccination efforts.

“Three hundred and sixty-five acres of prime real estate in downtown Los Angeles that we can use to help and take care of people. We couldn’t have done this without them,” Ortiz said.

CNN’s Paul Vercammen, Tami Luhby, and Sheila Sarmiento contributed to this report.

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