As the global pandemic COVID-19 hits every sector of life, the field of sports are also worryingly impacted. Major sporting events, tournaments and leagues are postponed or cancelled in the wake of Coronavirus.
The biggest sporting event which has been postponed is the Tokyo Olympics 2020 which was scheduled to be held in July in Japan. Olympics is world’s largest sporting event and thousands of athletes and sportsmen participate from hundreds of countries of the globe. They have been cancelled only for world wars in 1916, 1940 and 1944, and never postponed.
The organizing committee was initially quite hesitant and reluctant to postpone the games but had to take this difficult decision which is the need of time. The financial loss will be staggering and thousands of athletes will have to wait for next year for the games.
Apart from the globe’s largest sporting event, many other significant sporting events and tour are also delayed or postponed. Major football events around the globe have been postponed which includes Euro 2020 and COPA America 2020. Sporting leagues of Europe, UEFA, English, Spanish and German league football tournaments and matches are also postponed. FIFA has also postponed few world cup qualifier matches.
As the global economies cripple and every sector suffers huge losses in finance, the sporting sector will also face huge financial loses. The $160 billion sports sector will have serious ramifications of cancelation or postponement of sporting events. It will have consequences on teams, players, leagues, sporting organization and people associated to the industry.
The ramifications of cancelling or postponing play are wide-ranging, from mundane considerations about competition to potentially serious financial consequences for athletes, teams, leagues and organizations, and the tens of thousands of people who work at sporting events.
Depletion in tickets sale will hurt the small clubs and organizations and postponements of games is a major setback for broadcasting networks as their billions of dollars will be lost due to no live games and advertisements.
Only Tokyo Olympics will cost $ 6 billion, this impact would apply both to the country which has invested heavily in making the Olympics a national showcase and to sponsor companies that have poured billions of dollars into sponsorships.
National Basaketball AAssocition (NBA) is expected to suffer a loss of around $450 million.
Football will also experience unprecedented losses due to cancelation of matches.
Spanish football league LaLiga is estimated to lose 678.4 million euros, with 549 million from broadcasters. The sports sector could lose up to one billion euros in Spain amid coronavirus outbreak.
UEFA’s cancelation of Euro 2020 will cost upto 400 million euros as the European championship generates 2.5 billion euros, with a lot of that coming from ticket sales and sponsors.
As the global pandemic is set to reshape every sector of life, its consequences and results are yet to present a true picture of the sporting sector after it settles down. Let’s hope for a better future and our grounds filled with spectators.