I certainly hope you are right and we see 10,000-plus fans at home games, but I have say I'm still worried attendance won't bounce back quite that quickly.
As I mentioned last year, my main concern is that, for many, the spell that was cast over fans 20-plus years ago (and for some, much longer) that compelled them to attend every home game was sadly broken by the pandemic. I fear that now that many of those longtime fans came to realize that the world wouldn't end if they missed a game at TBA that they got too used to watching the games on TV and will not feel as duty-bound to drive to Knoxville.
I say this from personal experience. For many years I rarely missed a home game even though I had to drive 90 minutes each way, and that was because I felt a tremendous pull to be there unless I was ill. I would often say on Saturday, "Ya know, I think I'll just watch it on TV tomorrow. I'm so tired this week, and I don't feel like making the drive." But then Sunday morning it would hit me like a ton of bricks the feeling that my life would somehow be thrown permanently off balance if I missed a home game when I was perfectly healthy and capable of driving. LOL So I'd get in my car and go, and NEVER, in all the seasons I've been a fan, have I ever regretted going.
But now that the spell is broken, I'm not sure what's going to happen in my mind come Sunday mornings. I will always WANT to go, of course. But will I still feel supernaturally compelled to go? That remains to be seen.
