Covid-19 will change the football world dramatically by AndersS
In itself it seems almost like a useless pastime to worry about football in the current situation, as the Corona virus is in fact a matter of life and death.
It is very likely, that in the coming weeks and months we will see so many suffering from the virus, that hospitals etc. can’t cope. There will not be enough intensive care facilities to treat all the people needing intensive care, let alone the people needing intensive care because of the virus. There will also be shortages of medicine and of healthy medical staff.
Thousands will die of the virus but also of other critical illnesses, and from situations that can’t be handled. Not just elderly people, who are already suffering from other illnesses. It will be widespread, and it will be absolutely devasting. This is the picture, we are possibly looking at in many countries in the World, including the UK.
The economic impact of the disease could be of astronomical proportions in all countries. We will see not just small companies going bankrupt, but also huge worldwide corporations and most likely states as well.
You may dismiss the above as nonsense. I regard it not as a certainty, but as a possible scenario, which I personally would give even odds.
Worrying about football in these circumstances can be regarded as totally out of place. But here we go.
I do regard it as a certainty that the football season is over, and I personally couldn’t care less whether Liverpool are declared champions or not.
In the above scenario and even in a somewhat better outcome, the football world is likely to change dramatically.
Already clubs can expect huge drops in income. TV contracts are in fact being broken, and the companies paying huge sums for the rights to televise will rightly hold back payments and/or demand some of their millions back. Sponsorship the same. Income from ticket sales and merchandise can be assumed to be zero already.
Soon clubs can’t pay the salaries of their players or pay off on their credit for stadiums etc. We will see clubs going down. How many and how big is really just a matter of time.
When we eventually come on the other side of this, Arsenal FC as a club will most likely have survived. But Arsenal as a business is at risk. Now, you may of course think this is only a problem for the owners, but that will be a huge misconception.
It is not unlikely likely the football world will be totally different already in a couple of months, and a couple of months might not even be anywhere near the timeframe, we should be looking at.
Imagine this:
– Clubs will have to cope in the future with say 50% of their current income
– Clubs can’t live up to the contractual obligations to the players
– Players can effectively leave at will anytime, they desire
– But which clubs in the world can pay them?
– Forget transfers as we know them
– The governing bodies in the football world will be economically paralyzed as their income sources have effectively dried up
Do you want to continue the list?
AndersS
I of course hope, I am way off here and that in a few weeks this can be dismissed as a laughable prediction…