When soccer parks, ball fields and recreational areas all fell silent at once this spring, it allowed for a revitalization nobody expected. Canada geese, groundhogs, deer and other forms of wildlife moved in and set up housekeeping. And now that sports are trying to regain their foothold, venue managers are attempting to evict wildlife. Here's how.

While most event owners were still presenting virtual runs, NYCRUNS broke the mold late in the summer, putting on its first event in months, a 5K (with shirts reading "NYCRUNS Put on Its First 5K Since the Pandemic and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt."). Laughs aside, that event is a case study in careful planning and smart risk mitigation measures.

We first heard the term, "assault on hometown baseball," back in late 2019, as word of elimination of Minor League teams began to filter through. Although the league attempted negotiations, it looks like 40 teams may be eliminated (or at best, stripped of their MLB ties) and venues are scrambling to fill their schedules with everything from BMX to movie nights.

Bicycling has grown exponentially in 2020 and with it has come an increased interest in professional cycling. Cities that want to capitalize on this should look into hosting one of the UCI's championship events, currently up for bid with a deadline of December 1. Events in a wide range of disciplines are looking for hosts. Learn more here.

As colleges reel from the impact of COVID, sports that have been deemed "non-revenue" are being dropped. But, say industry leaders, many of those cuts will impact the U.S.'s ability to field quality Olympic teams down the road – particularly in sports like gymnastics and water polo where almost all Team USA athletes competed in college.

With water sports events benefiting from a degree of natural, built-in safety and health that many other sports can't yet offer, surfing has, to paraphrase the Beach Boys, caught a wave and it's sitting on top of the world. Add in the fact that there's generally no charge to surf in open water (even rivers) and you have a case study for success.