MAL 35:20 MAL35 | Page 92

SPORTS MARKETING Business Unusual As World Catches The Flu Bringing Sports To A Standstill! By Richard Wanjohi W ho would have ever imagined? No Olympics in 2020... No Euro Cup or Copa America either... UEFA Champions League and Golf Open tournaments postponed... World Athletics Under-21 Championships in Nairobi postponed indefinitely... the list of sports events is endless. We’re living in unprecedented times! Never in our living memory has the world ground to a halt as it has been brought to its knees in such magnitude - the closest being the 2nd World War. For the past couple of weeks now, stadiums and other sports venues are empty, fans restricted to their houses and locales while curfews and lockdowns are imposed city upon city and entire countries too. Globalization has shown its chilling side as the connectedness and traversing the world have been one of the main catalysts of the L eague pandemic. Social distancing an anathema in the world of sport suddenly must be exercised. Handshakes, hi-fiving had been banned in most kick-offs by the time the leagues were suspending play. Fist and elbow bumps may become the new form of salutation in the interim as we go back to the basics on hygiene practices. The business of sport has been heavily disrupted with sports organizations forced to consider the health and human side of the individuals, teams, managers and support staff. Estimates from sports business experts at Forbes and KPMG calculate an initial loss of $ 9.35 billion by the sports properties globally halted for at least two months - this is ticket sales, sponsorships and concessions as well as the golden goose in TV rights fees. The European football leagues which had initially dithered to stop the games stopped once players in Italy, England and parts of Spain, a top manager in England and Italy as well a club owner in Greece and England tested positive for the Covid-19 virus, better known as the Corona Virus. These leagues in England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France are likely to lose $ 4.35 billion if the football games are completely stopped. The English Premier League would stand to lose the most with as much as $1.4 billion, with revenues coming from broadcasting expected to suffer the effects of the crisis the most. The breakdown of the numbers is shown below; M atchday B roadcasting C ommercial TOTAL 170-180 million 700-800 million 250-300 million 1.15 – 1.25 billion 150-170 million 500-600 million 150-200 million 0.8 – 0.95 billion B undesliga 130-140 million 300-400 million 200-250 million 0.65 – 0.75 billion S erie A 90-100 million 350-450 million 100-150 million 0.55 – 0.65 billion L igue 1 50-60 million 150-200 million 100-140 million 0.3 – 0.4 billion E nglish P remier L eague L a L iga 90 MAL35/20 ISSUE