Attending sporting events appeals in many instances. While not every person likes sports passionately, many individuals follow the teams that played nearby where they grew up. They might like to follow them on TV, but there is something much more compelling about having a live sporting experience with thousands of other screaming fans.
For instance, the Muhammed Ali Center sees over 100,00 yearly visitors, putting on boxing cards and basketball games that the whole state of Kentucky has fun witnessing. You can also check out an event at Madison Square Garden in New York or another world-famous arena.
If you attend a live sporting event, though, you might injure yourself. This happens fairly frequently. Occasionally you even hear about a fan dying tragically while attending one of these events.
Let us talk about sporting event injuries. We will discuss some of the more common ones and then go over some ways to avoid them.
While not technically an injury, you can make yourself very sick if you attend a sporting event and do not drink enough water or sports drinks while sitting directly in the hot sun. In many baseball, soccer, or football stadiums, you might have the sun beating directly down on you in the midday heat.
In the height of summer, that can make you pass out. Heat stroke can prove fatal for some youngsters or older individuals, though it can impact anyone.
You can avoid this by hydrating yourself throughout the day. You can usually bring in an unopened water bottle, and some stadiums have started letting you bring in unopened Gatorade bottles as well. That way, you can get those electrolytes your body craves.
Whether you are attending a basketball game, or football, baseball, or something else, you should know that objects can always leave the field of play or the court at any moment. For many years, most baseball stadiums did not have any kind of protection for the fans.
These days they have netting in place to protect the individuals right behind home plate and to either side of it. However, a foul ball might also fly high up into the stands and strike an unsuspecting fan.
If there is action on the field or on the court, make sure you pay attention to it. That way, you should have time to react if a ball, bat, or something else leaves the field. In basketball games, you might even have a player fly off the court and land in your lap if you’re not careful, and that can certainly injure you.
If someone dies at a sporting event, often, it’s because they fell from a decent height. Some of these stadiums have sections where you can potentially fall dozens of feet or more if you lose your balance. If you trip or slip on some spilled water or soda, it can happen as well.
If you fall from an escalator in a football stadium, that can kill you. It has happened a couple of times in the past decade. If you’re going up or down an escalator or climbing up to your seat in the lofty heights of a baseball stadium, watch where you’re going. Focus on your balance while you’re moving about, or you could fall and sustain a serious injury.
Sometimes, fans can imbibe a little too much. They can get boisterous and even start throwing punches. If this happens, you can injure yourself or someone else.
Know that if you go into a rival team’s stadium wearing an opposing team’s jersey or colors, you might rile up the fan base. While they shouldn’t physically attack you, it can happen, especially if you’re talking a little trash and purposefully antagonize them.
If you’re going to go into an opposing team’s stadium with the other team’s colors on, it’s best not to antagonize the home team’s fans. It’s also helpful if you go as a group, since there’s strength in numbers.
If things get too hostile, tell security. You should find security guards stationed around the stadium or arena, and you might need their intervention sometimes.
If you do injure yourself at a sporting event, you might wonder if you can sue the team or the venue. In almost all instances, you can’t. To be more accurate, you can bring a lawsuit, but you probably won’t win.
If you look at the fine print on your ticket, you will almost always see language indemnifying the team and venue if you injure yourself. You will also probably hear an announcement when the game begins to stay alert during the action and protect yourself if bats, balls, other equipment, or even players leave the playing field or court.
If another fan punches you and breaks your jaw, that’s another matter. They may face criminal charges, but you might also bring a civil lawsuit. However, to do that, you must identify the person who did it.
When violence happens between fans, often, it takes place after the game in the parking lot. If you have several individuals who consumed a great deal of alcohol before or during the game, they might come to blows if someone makes an off-color comment.
During this time, try to get home or to your vehicle as quickly as you can, especially if you’re wearing the opposing team’s colors. If your team won, you may have incensed fans all around you. The wrong word or glance can set one of them off.
If you follow these rules, you should enjoy sporting events and avoid most injuries. Sometimes freak occurrences take place, but usually, you can sit quietly and watch the action. You can even cheer without falling out of your seat or doing anything else that might cause bruises, cuts, or broken limbs.
