Corona and sumo

[Kintamayama]

Nishonoseki Ichimon has canceled its rengo-keiko in Osaka which was slated to be open to the public due to the Corona outbreak.

[Eikokurai]

About Haru ... is there any chance they’d favour a closed-door basho to no basho at all? My feeling is not since it costs money to run a tournament that they wouldn’t recoup from ticket costs or bout sponsorships, but then maybe they’d also like to avoid cancelling it altogether. I doubt the rikishi would mind the rest though.

[Otokonoyama]

I think Haru is too soon given the ROI we see now, but it could be that Nagoya and Aki will be the real hard decision time.

[Kaminariyuki]

3 hours ago, Eikokurai said:

About Haru ... is there any chance they’d favour a closed-door basho to no basho at all? My feeling is not since it costs money to run a tournament that they wouldn’t recoup from ticket costs or bout sponsorships, but then maybe they’d also like to avoid cancelling it altogether. I doubt the rikishi would mind the rest though.

Funny, I was thinking exactly the same thing while taking my morning walk...

[sahaven111]

6 hours ago, Eikokurai said:

About Haru ... is there any chance they’d favour a closed-door basho to no basho at all? My feeling is not since it costs money to run a tournament that they wouldn’t recoup from ticket costs or bout sponsorships, but then maybe they’d also like to avoid cancelling it altogether. I doubt the rikishi would mind the rest though.

They could hold it in another venue? like kyoto or maybe tokyo again?

[Eikokurai]

1 hour ago, sahaven111 said:

They could hold it in another venue? like kyoto or maybe tokyo again?

I don’t see how that resolves the central problem of crowds gathering in one place.

[Benihana]

17 minutes ago, Eikokurai said:

I don’t see how that resolves the central problem of crowds gathering in one place.

Who needs a crowd for a sumo basho?

[Gurowake]

4 hours ago, Benihana said:

Who needs a crowd for a sumo basho?

The crowds are what pays for it.

[sahaven111]

18 minutes ago, Gurowake said:

The crowds are what pays for it.

They could give decent online coverage and let the would be "crowd" pay for it like they would tickets.

[Kuroyama]

6 hours ago, Eikokurai said:

I don’t see how that resolves the central problem of crowds gathering in one place.

It wouldn't. But they could hold a perfunctory basho at the Kokugikan with no audience and without the extra expense of an out-of-town venue, travel, and lodging.

Edited February 20, 2020 by Kuroyama

[Churaumi]

10 hours ago, sahaven111 said:

They could give decent online coverage and let the would be "crowd" pay for it like they would tickets.

Hahahahahahahabaha....the NSK doing anything that could make sumo accessible to fans outside Japan without VPN trickery or valiant efforts of people reposting NHK content....that’s a good one. They did have that rather pricey feed they cut off a few years ago, crickets since. The best we get are NHK World highlights or home movies from the Kokugikan. Better than nothing but the Kyokai doesn’t make it easy to be a foreign fan. I don’t see coronavirus forcing their hand.

[Asashosakari]

1 hour ago, Churaumi said:

Hahahahahahahabaha....the NSK doing anything that could make sumo accessible to fans outside Japan without VPN trickery or valiant efforts of people reposting NHK content....that’s a good one. They did have that rather pricey feed they cut off a few years ago, crickets since. The best we get are NHK World highlights or home movies from the Kokugikan. Better than nothing but the Kyokai doesn’t make it easy to be a foreign fan. I don’t see coronavirus forcing their hand.

The post you responded to said nothing about foreign fans... Quite the opposite in fact since it was talking about making the domestic ticket buyers shell out for ersatz online coverage. (Although I'm not sure how sahaven111 expects that to work when those same people can already watch it for free on TV under normal circumstances.)

Edited February 20, 2020 by Asashosakari

[Churaumi]

4 hours ago, Asashosakari said:

The post you responded to said nothing about foreign fans... Quite the opposite in fact since it was talking about making the domestic ticket buyers shell out for ersatz online coverage. (Although I'm not sure how sahaven111 expects that to work when those same people can already watch it for free on TV under normal circumstances.)

Made a leap there. If the Kyokai put it online, perhaps us foreigners would be able to watch it. Then again, the Abema feed still exists but there has been no push evident to make that officially available either.

[Eikokurai]

Reports that Tokyo has cancelled large indoor events for the next three weeks. I wouldn’t be surprised if Osaka follows suit.

[Benevolance]

2 hours ago, Kintamayama said:

or maybe restrict the fans to only Japanese..

Does anyone know a good VPN for attending physical venues? 

[Eikokurai]

1 hour ago, Kaminariyuki said:

the sumo association is still insisting that they will hold the event

In the end it may not be their choice. The Osaka municipal government or even the national government may yet decree that public events in all cities or events of a certain size be postponed.

[robnplunder]

2 hours ago, Eikokurai said:

In the end it may not be their choice. The Osaka municipal government or even the national government may yet decree that public events in all cities or events of a certain size be postponed.

Agreed.  If Japan wants to protect holding the Olympics, it must stem this outbreak now and may have to overreact rather than underreact.   

[Morty]

5 hours ago, robnplunder said:

Anyway, I am betting the next basho will be canceled giving every rikishi a needed break.

And this might be the silver lining. Imagine how awesome a basho we could have if every rikishi was given four, or even six months to rest and heal their injuries, or even (gasp) take the time to seek proper medical treatment...

[Eikokurai]

3 hours ago, Morty said:

And this might be the silver lining. Imagine how awesome a basho we could have if every rikishi was given four, or even six months to rest and heal their injuries, or even (gasp) take the time to seek proper medical treatment...

A healthy Hakuho among them? It'd be boring. When he's fit he still wins too comfortably. 

[Eikokurai]

I don’t think it would be overreacting. Sumo crowds tend to be at the older end of the age spectrum and it seems like older people are more vulnerable to the virus. It only takes one carrier across the 15 days, one curious tourist from China who wants to see the sumo on their holiday ... not such an outlandish possibility. Overreacting is everyone rushing out to buy toilet paper like in HK. Taking measures to avoid crowds is just reacting.

Edited February 23, 2020 by Eikokurai

[robnplunder]

So, will the next basho happen or not?   What do you think?

[Eikokurai]

15 minutes ago, robnplunder said:

So, will the next basho happen or not?   What do you think?

If it's the Kyokai's decision, probably. They can't even provide proper ringside medical care so I don't expect them to be proactive in cancelling the basho themselves. However, I see the Japanese government stepping in at some point. They can't have missed how quickly things have escalated in South Korea and Italy just in the past two days and have also faced criticism over their early handling of the outbreak. I think they'll be pressured into action.

[Kintamayama]

6 minutes ago, robnplunder said:

So, will the next basho happen or not?   What do you think?

Happen. Unless thousands will be affected in Japan suddenly.

[Eikokurai]

Just now, Kintamayama said:

Happen. Unless thousands will be affected in Japan suddenly.

The risk with the basho is it's 15 days. What if things are relatively okay at the start but get worse over the next two weeks? Do they risk starting a tournament and leaving it unfinished?

[Kintamayama]

2 minutes ago, Eikokurai said:

The risk with the basho is it's 15 days. What if things are relatively okay at the start but get worse over the next two weeks? Do they risk starting a tournament and leaving it unfinished?

As reported earlier, a football game was held  with 15000 spectators in Osaka with no problems. As long as the situation stays as it s in Japan, I don't see a basho cancellation.