What has been
the biggest impact of the pandemic thus far on the sports & sports media
industries? Which league/event/sports media organization has the most to lose? Who
could possibly gain/benefit from the current situation? Do you think the
pandemic will have any lasting impact/creating any long-term changes on sports?
Limit: 7 responses
Cooper Brown
ReplyDeleteThe COVID-19 Virus has impacted every aspect of life as we know it. Cancellations of major events have become common as social distancing and quarantine become the most effective ways to keep yourself from becoming sick. Avoiding large crowds all together meant the sports industry will suffer since it will not be able to increase its revenue through ticket and broadcasting profits. I feel as though the ticket sales have been affected the most by this virus and teams are losing out on millions in terms of revenue. For reference, “An NFL team earned about $7 million, on average, in ticket sales from a single stadium event in 2016. About 55% of that revenue is used to pay athletes or musicians” (Eckstein) if they hold concerts. With the cancellations of games teams will be missing out on huge amounts of revenue. The COVID-19 has put a huge strain on many teams financially since they cannot collect ticket sales revenue due to games being cancelled. It is interesting to see what happens with specific leagues and their broadcasting contracts. I do not know the technicalities of the contracts but I can see it becoming complicated due to cancellations. I think the league that will suffer the most from this virus is the NCAA. The NCAA has already cancelled their march madness tournament which is very surprising. March Madness is without a doubt the biggest money maker for the NCAA and without that revenue they will be in a bind financially for a long time. It was a necessity to cancel as “No clear solution for a business that relies on athletes competing in close quarters and spectators sitting side by side” (King). It just goes to show just how serious COVID-19 really is if they were willing to cancel a tournament that “made $867.5 million from March Madness television and marketing rights alone in the 2018-19 fiscal year” (McGee). Besides the College Football Playoff there is nothing that really garners that much revenue for the NCAA. This makes the NCAA one of the organizations that will be hurt the most from this. Teams that are in the middle of their season will also be hurt a lot from these cancellations. For example, “the total financial impact of suspending the NBA regular season alone could approach a billion dollars, and that only involves one-fifth of the schedule being lost. If the playoffs must be shortened or otherwise altered to fit a new, later timeline, the costs would climb even higher” (Paine). The NBA is not the only league that will lose this much, I anticipate leagues such as the NHL will be feeling the same type of losses. I do not think there is any gain or benefit that can happen from this pandemic. I feel as though the losses from this fiscal year alone will be felt for many years later. It will be years for some leagues to make up the sheer amount of lost revenue from the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Continued
DeleteEckstein, J. (2020, February 5). How The NFL Makes Money: TV is King, Streaming and Gambling on Horizon. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/062515/how-nfl-makes-money.asp
King, B., & March 16, 2020. (n.d.). Coronavirus: Seasons interrupted. Retrieved from https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2020/03/16/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/Seasons.aspx
McGee, N. (n.d.). How much money does the NCAA make from March Madness? Retrieved from https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/how-much-money-does-the-ncaa-make-from-march-madness/ar-BBZIYDV
Neil_Paine. (2020, March 16). The Coronavirus's Economic Effect On Sports Could Be Staggering. Retrieved from https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-coronaviruss-economic-effect-on-sports-could-be-staggering/
The world of sports is a realm that allows its fans across the globe to sit back, relax, and enjoy a show that feels like an escape from their daily lives as hard workers. Unfortunately, that spectacle has been taken away due to the COVID-19 outbreak that is contaminating thousands of people all over the world. The NCAA, NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS are in season right now, and their games have been cancelled. Another closed event happens to be the Olympics, which has not happened since World War II. Things are changing and athletes need to maintain their health and safety before they can perform and play their hearts out for their fans, so the closure is a necessary action. If we want to discuss the financial hits, there are some leagues that get hit the hardest mid-season.
ReplyDeleteWe can use the NBA as a prime example since they are in their second-half of the season en route to the playoffs. According to a FiveThirtyEight article, “The NBA makes about $8 billion a year, most of which comes from television contracts, merchandising, sponsorships and gate receipts. Unpacking each of those areas reveals how much the COVID-19 crisis could affect the business of basketball” (Neil Paine). Furthermore, because games are now cancelled, that means that the revenue made during these games would also be lost. According to the Sports Business Journal, the first week of no NBA would equal “A total loss of 57 games, (including games suspended the night the NBA announced the decision) and $86 million to $185 million in overall revenue, according to industry sources, covering tickets and other in-venue revenue such as food and beverage” (John Lombardo, David Broughton, and Terry Lefton). Lost wages of Arena employees and vendors also suffer greatly all around, but the NBA is practically more popular at this time of the year than the NHL, who is also in a mid-season shut down. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has insisted that he aims to salvage the rest of the season when it is safe to carry on, so we will see how that plays out. Another big loser impacted by the coronavirus pandemic has to be the NCAA. March Madness is the NCAA’s prime attraction when it comes to revenue and popularity. But, because of the danger lerking around, all of the NCAA’s tournaments and remaining games in any sport were cancelled. According to a Statista article, “This college basketball tournament is very lucrative for the NCAA and its potential complete cancellation could mean a loss of 933 million U.S. dollars in media rights, ticket sales and sponsorships. This figure is based on the revenue that these categories generated during the previous year's tournament” (Christina Gough). March Madness is one of America’s most coveted tournaments to watch, and regardless of the financial loss, its fans don’t get to witness the Madness of this national basketball tournament that tends to make noise with upsets every single year. There seems to be no winner during these times. COVID-19 has impacted everything that it touches negatively, from the human body to restaurants to shops to the entertainment industry and now, to even sports as a whole. There’s no telling how the economy will shape itself out after this pandemic is defeated, but, sports will rise again and we will forever remember this period of time as the most silent time in the sports industry.
Broughton, David, et al. “NBA an Example of Revenue Impact.” Sports Business Daily, 16 Mar.2020,
www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2020/03/16/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/NBA-revenue.aspx.
Gough, Christina. “March Madness Revenue Loss Due to Coronavirus 2020.” Statista, 18 Mar. 2020,
www.statista.com/statistics/1104044/coronavirus-revenue-loss-march-madness/.
Paine, Neil. “The Coronavirus's Economic Effect On Sports Could Be Staggering.” FiveThirtyEight, FiveThirtyEight, 16 Mar. 2020, www.fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-coronaviruss-economic-effect-on-sports-could-be-staggering./
The Covid-19 virus has affected every major industry in the world with its rapid spread and deadly effects. Very few industries have been affected by the virus more than sports. At first, many leagues made a shocking announcement: that all games would have to be played without fans. Bad quickly turned to worse, however, when NBA player Rudy Gobert was diagnosed with the virus. This immediately set off a chain of events that would lead to the cancellation or postponement of every major sporting event in the next few months. There are very few winners in this situation, but there are many, many losers.
ReplyDeleteTeams have to pay salaries to players and staff without their normal revenue intake. This can be a problem for leagues like the NBA, who were hit hardest by the Coronavirus. According to fivethirthyeight, the NBA had a lot of money left to make when it pushed back its season, “At the time games were called off on Wednesday, there were 259 games left on the NBA regular-season schedule — meaning 21 percent of the regular season could be lost, to say nothing of the playoffs, if the league doesn’t complete the season,” (Paine). This is a lot of money that would have gone towards the payment of arena and team staff, but cannot since this money does not exist as a possibility for the NBA at this time.
The NBA has it easy compared to the NCAA, however. This corporation relies on March Madness to rake in roughly 75% of the company’s yearly income (Paine). This incredible money maker was cancelled along with the other sports leagues after originally planning to proceed without fans. NCAA could be over as we know it after March Madness was cancelled. We could see serious reform to the college sports system as a result of the NCAA’s financial trouble coming from the virus.
One company benefiting from the lack of sports on television is WWE. Sure, they don’t have live shows going on, but ESPN has started airing classic WrestleMania events to atone for lack of programing. These two companies never work together, as WWE has deals with NBC and Fox, so it’s a huge step for WWE in the business word. They will be making more money than ever and broadcasting their product to a wide array of audiences that are craving some kind of sports entertainment. This also works because although ESPN has not showed WWE events in the past(Steinberg), they have been interested in the world of combat sports. This will give them a chance to decide if they will further pursue combat sports in the future.
The league that I’m hoping will recover but might not is the XFL. I feel that of all of the new football leagues that have come out, XFL was built to succeed. The season had gotten off to a great start and people were starting to really grow attached to their teams. However, this all ended suddenly as a Seattle Dragons concession worker was diagnosed with the disease (Goldberg). I want the XFL to live, but with its first season being completely undone by forces nobody could control, the life of this league and so many others, are in question.
Goldberg, Rob. “XFL 'Closely Monitoring' Coronavirus Situation as Los Angeles Declares Emergency.” Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 5 Mar. 2020, bleacherreport.com/articles/2879279-xfl-closely-monitoring-coronavirus-situation-as-los-angeles-declares-emergency.
Paine, Neil. “The Coronavirus's Economic Effect On Sports Could Be Staggering.” FiveThirtyEight, FiveThirtyEight, 16 Mar. 2020, fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-coronaviruss-economic-effect-on-sports-could-be-staggering/.
Steinberg, Brian. “ESPN Plans to Air Classic 'WrestleMania' Events (EXCLUSIVE).” Variety, Variety, 20 Mar. 2020, variety.com/2020/tv/news/espn-wrestlemania-wwe-tv-sports-1203540417/.
Dylan Lewis
ReplyDeleteThe outbreak of the COVID-19 virus has basically changed life as we know it completely for the foreseeable future, having a major impact on many industries, especially on the sports and sports media industries. Due to COVID-19, major sports leagues around the world have had no choice but to postpone their seasons until a later date due to their being “No clear solution for a business that relies on athletes competing in close quarters and spectators sitting side by side” (King). With their seasons suspended indefinitely, major sports leagues who typically operate during the spring like the NBA and the MLB will be missing out on hundreds of millions of dollars earned from ticket sales and broadcasting revenue. The NCAA especially stands to lose a great amount of their revenue with the cancellation of the March Madness tournament, which, according to an article from FiveThirtyEight, “generates roughly three-quarters of the revenue the NCAA makes across all sports all year long” (Paine). Not only will the leagues and teams themselves be losing money, but arena workers for every team will unfortunately be left without jobs or income for the foreseeable future.
One industry that could benefit from this situation is the eSports industry. With most eSports tournaments taking place online, there has been no need to cancel these events, allowing the show to go on for the players, current fans, and potential fans of eSports. During this lull in professional sports action, many fans of traditional sports may turn to eSports in order to get their fill of competitive entertainment. According to an article from The Washington Post, Twitch, the main streaming source for many eSports events, has seen a 50 percent, 41 percent, 26 percent, and 14 percent increase in first-time downloads in Greece, Italy, Spain and the United States respectively (Smith). Many professional athletes, such as NBA players Devin Booker and Meyers Leonard, have started up Twitch streams of their own as a way of entertaining and connecting with fans while they are unable to play on the court or on the field, introducing a much wider audience to the world of eSports.
Another company that can benefit from this situation is the WWE. WWE has continued to run their shows despite the virus by hosting them without an audience. The company is even planning to host their annual blockbuster event, Wrestlemania, without the massive sell-out crowds they typically draw every year, which is likely to still draw an audience of millions watching from home.
Whenever these major sports leagues start back up again, there will always be an asterisk beside it noting the major gap in time between games played. If sports seasons start up again, many previously injured players may become healthy again and return into their team’s normal lineups, and many teams who may have been on a hot streak may start the rest of the season off on the wrong foot. Of course, on top of this comes the major financial loss many major league sports teams will have to deal with due to the suspension of their season.
Works Cited
King, Bill. “Coronavirus: Seasons Interrupted.” Sports Business Daily, 16 Mar. 2020,
www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2020/03/16/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/Seasons.aspx.
Paine, Neil. “The Coronavirus's Economic Effect On Sports Could Be Staggering.”
FiveThirtyEight, FiveThirtyEight, 16 Mar. 2020,
fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-coronaviruss-economic-effect-on-sports-could-be-staggering/.
Smith, Noah. “While the Sports World Falls Silent, Esports and Streamers Fill the Void.” The
Washington Post, WP Company, 17 Mar. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/esports/2020/03/17/esports-streamers-coronavirus-sports-canceled/.
We are currently living in an unprecedented time. This COVID 19 pandemic will be something we talk about for generations to come. Its effects reach far beyond our health a wellbeing. It has changed our lives in ways we could have never imagined. When March rolls around each year, it is typically one of the best months for sports. The NBA and NHL are nearing playoffs, the MLB is beginning its spring training, NCAA March Madness and the NFL draft is weeks away, however, all of this has come to a screeching halt amidst this virus outbreak. This is has caused countless sports media outlets to scramble survive without an influx of new content to cover.
ReplyDeleteOne medium that is being effected the most is sports radio. Prime time programs that air during the morning commute as well as rush hour are no longer receiving their daily listeners as more and more companies are forcing employees to work from home. And even if listeners were to tune in, what would you tune in for? There is no new sports talk to discuss beyond free agency and what leagues are doing to adjust to their new set of circumstances. Co-Host of the Sports Tank Jeremy Greene just started his daily program this February, and already finds himself in a position no one in our lifetime has been in. He says "I'm not a doctor, so we're not doing medical updates, we're trying to bring a little levity and help the community as much as we can." (Greene) While this is a noble effort, I feel terrible for Greene as his show might end up off the air before it even got a chance with the lack of sports talk and listeners. I have been tuning into the Michael Kay Show somewhat frequently to see what they are talking about, and it’s all nonsense, it simply is not good radio and not worth listening to.
However with all of this change, new opportunities arise. While it may not be under the best terms, there are new stories to talk about. One perspective to think about is the little guy in all of this. While the major sports leagues are getting plenty of coverage, there is entire population of young athletes who find their seasons ending without notice. It’s a different perspective to think about, how sports mean so much more than just being a game to play. Daily News author said “There was a kid in Illinois just sitting by himself at midcourt. I don’t care what sport you played, you can relate to the idea of being alone in the gym, the amount of hours you spent in the pursuit of refining what you did for a moment and a chance. And that chance just goes. You didn’t lose the game. You just lost the chance to play the game.” (Young) It’s heart breaking to think of all of the high school and college seniors who no longer have the chance to play their final game, and potentially end their careers the way they wanted at no fault of their own.
There is going to be a great sigh of relief once all of this is over, but it certainly will not be forgotten. I absolutely hate when people say that “it’s just a game”, because for so many of us that is simply not true. Sport is so much more than what the word is defined as. It represents sacrifice, hard work, dedication, an escape from reality, and it unfortunately cannot be there when we need it most. I found an article posted in the NY Times that had a headline that read “A march without its usual madness. Shots with no buzzers to beat. It's not just games that sports is losing. It's memories and, for some athletes, precious time.” (Powell) When sports do come back, I feel that the entire sports world will see differently. Whichever game it is you watch, you will have a newfound appreciation for what it provided for you in your life.
Pamfilis, Stan. “Sports Talk Radio Adjusts during the Coronavirus Pandemic.” WLOS, WLOS, 19 Mar. 2020, wlos.com/sports/content/sports-talk-radio-adjusts-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic.
DeletePowell, Michael. “The Games Will Come Back. The Moments We'll Miss Are Already Gone.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Mar. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/sports/baseball/virus-sports.html.
Young, Dennis. “Scott Van Pelt on How to Make SportsCenter during the Coronavirus Pandemic.” Nydailynews.com, New York Daily News, 19 Mar. 2020, www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/ny-scott-van-pelt-sportscenter-coronavirus-20200319-6gfjspf2hjh6zkgoyxcgoycqqe-story.html.