Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that sent students home in March of last year and transformed the academic learning environment, Boston University athletic events have not allowed in-person attendance for the 2020-21 academic year.
Without the opportunity to watch the Terriers in person, students have largely disengaged from following the progress and achievements of BU Athletics.
The BU Dog Pound, a student organization that encourages fan engagement at men’s hockey games, has continued to voice its support at sporting events — even if they take place virtually.
“We’ve decided to do watch parties,” Rafael Perron, an executive board member of the Dog Pound, said. “We’re having fun watching the games. We are able to get people into some of these watch parties and at least have some kind of engagement.”
Through Hockey East’s website, students are able to view the games for free, Perron said, meaning the Pound can hold Zoom events for BU’s most passionate hockey fans. For the Terriers’ matchup last month against rival Boston College — a game known as “The Battle of Commonwealth Avenue” — the group invited their Instagram followers to join them via Zoom to watch the game together.
Posting on social media has proved important for organizations such as the Dog Pound in keeping fans engaged and excited about games.
“We’ve kind of doubled on [social media] to try to get more people engaged,” Perron said. “We are still able to have a presence on social media because that hasn’t changed from in-person to online.”
While sporting events are happening virtually and are available to fans, it can be difficult to know when they happen and what platforms they take place on.
Oliva Kirker, a freshman in the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said watching and supporting BU athletics has been more difficult and less accessible for fans, including her. If game times and group events were shared via newsletter, she said, it could help fans stay up-to-date with those events.
“It’s just harder to know what times things are going on, harder to make it to Zoom calls,” Kirker said. “If somebody wanted to sign up for that, they could be made aware of when games were happening, what platforms they could use.”
Virtual events also feel less formal for some students, including Morgan Clark, vice president of public relations for the Dog Pound and junior in the College of Communication. She said fans might be less inclined to watch the games on Zoom or elsewhere online because the experience is not as social and demanding of one’s time.
“When we used to go to games in-person, it’s very easy to block that out as something in your schedule,” Clark said. “When you’re just remembering to watch something on TV, it’s a lot more lenient … It’s not an event to put in the calendar in the same exact way.”
When it comes to these online streams, fans have also encountered problems finding and watching some sports games — for Kirker, she has trouble keeping up with women’s sports.
“I think it’s been especially hard for women’s sports because those are less likely to be televised,” she said, “and so I’m less likely to be able to watch them.”
The Dog Pound has been working with BU Athletics to better the fan experience and come up with other engaging events, Perron said, but nothing beats the thrill of cheering in the stands of Agganis Arena.
“We don’t get our core thing that drives our entire organization, which is going to games and having a good time,” Perron said. “It’s really hard to keep up with chants and things like that when people are delayed on Zoom sometimes or people don’t have quality internet.”
While fans are disappointed in the lack of in-person attendance at games, they are still understanding of the reasoning behind the decision.
“My next thing … would be to have at least some students be able to go in-person, even if the number was greatly reduced,” Clark said. “But I still think that [BU is] making the right decision and not letting that happen in the moment because of course we want to be COVID-safe, first and foremost.”
