Behind closed doors or games with out spectators are used for several reasons.
In the 21st century the COVID-19 pandemic lead to many sports leagues opting for this a the only way to continue playing with broadcasts becoming their main (if not only source of revenue). The 2019-20 NHL season was completed in two bubble environments in Edmonton and Toronto in order to stage the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs in August and September. Several other teams were already being forced to hold games with no one in attendance. The Columbus Blue Jackets instructed that effective March 11th games at Nationwide Arena with not have spectators as the governor of Ohio issue an executive order in an attempt to quell the spread of the COVID-19 virus. It became a moot point when the league league shut down within 48 hours. Teams started the 2020-21 season with limited or no crowds at games. As a vaccine became available these restrictions were gradually removed but reemerged in December of 2021 when a variant of the virus lead to widespread cases across eastern Canada resulting in the Montreal Canadiens would be not allowed to play with spectators. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets would voluntarily enact the no crowd policy. The league would cancel many games due to mass positive test results on many teams and then shuffle the schedule after extending the Christmas break as well as moving game locations to venues where fans were allow such as having the Boston Bruins swap home dates with the Canadiens for a set of games scheduled for January and March. This started to become prevalent as many Canadian team games were shifted to the American teams' arenas in order to have crowds.
Other uses for this was as a way to punish a team (both financially and a lack fan support) usually done due to unruly fans but this is usually done in association football as a response to hooliganism.
Some events are held without spectators and are recorded to broadcast at a later date to keep a surprise or results being made public and possibly diminishing the demand for the event. This is often done in professional wrestling to keep demand up for a pay-per-view event, such as the professional wrestling company WWE recording their major pay-per-view event of the year, Wrestlemania XXXVI in April of 2020 as a response to the growing COVID-19 pandemic. WWE recorded the show March 25 and 26 prior to the broadcast of the two day event being broadcast April 4 and 5.
Other hockey related events include:
- The Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League playing two home games at the Bojangles' Coliseum with no one in attendance due to two winter storms that started after both teams and the officials were already in the city. The first occurrence was January 22, 2016 and the other January 17, 2018.
- The Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey was forced to play several home games at Walter Brown Arena in February of 1985 in front of no fans due to a measles outbreak on campus.