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Former Liverpool coach Bill Shankly knew how important sport was to diehard fans when he jokingly said, “Some people think football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you that it’s much, much more important than that. “
But the coronavirus has brought football, along with all other sports, to its knees.
At a time when the sport never had a larger potential television audience, now there is nothing to see. All important events have been canceled to protect the participants and comply with the rules of social distancing.
The sport itself is a victim of Covid-19, and while recovery may come to pass, it could suffer long-term damage.
“There is no question about it, and when it comes to modern professional sport, it’s essentially financially financed by television money,” Jack Anderson, Director of Sports Law Studies at the University of Melbourne told RTÉ’s This Week program.
“If the sport is not available to stream now, then at best, streaming deals are suspended or, as we have seen in one or two cases, terminated entirely.”
“That has presented many sports with immediate financial problems, not only affecting their cost base, but also their cash flow.”
Those problems have begun to materialize in top tier soccer in the UK in recent times.
The English Premier League is one of the richest in the world, raising around £ 2.5 billion per season.
But that money is paid to the clubs in installments three times a year. The last installment was in January, the next due at the end of the season.
If there are no more games between now and then, clubs could lose around £ 760 million.
That money can’t be offset by ticket sales or sponsorship deals, since Covid-19 has also compromised those two sources of revenue.
“What the sport has realized in the last twenty or thirty years is that, although traditionally, the entry money (people who watched and paid was important) has now become the third in the ranking behind money and television sponsorship. And all three sources of income certainly decrease in the short to medium term, and that means a fundamental change for sport in general, “said Professor Anderson.
Loss of income is also affecting sports in this country.
On Thursday, Shamrock Rovers players had a 25% pay cut, and other Irish League clubs are under severe financial strain.
Some of those clubs, according to UCC sports economist Dr. John Considine, may go to the wall: “I think that is definitely the case. This will have a huge impact on the revenue that comes into the clubs’ doorstep, and If we are already operating on the edge between insolvency and not, unfortunately we will see that more and more clubs face problems, “he said.
If clubs become insolvent in the middle of a season, this will have a negative effect on the leagues they play in.
“If a team goes to the wall in the middle of a season, what about the competition? What about the integrity of the league or the championship?” Dr. Considine said.
“Are all the games gone? How do we add the points? These are all the things that will have to be resolved.”
However, Dr. Considine sees a silver lining for some sports, which he believes could come out of this crisis faster than others.
“If we think about the product that competitors offer, then they have to distance themselves socially. So how do they distance themselves socially at work? Well, if you think about the people who play darts, golf or sailing, they can socially distance themselves easier than a contact sport or a team sport “
“Then there will be a hierarchy.”
“Individual sports will have an advantage, while team sports or contact sports will be under pressure.”
This may mean that broadcasting organizations, in the clamor to start showing sport again, will choose to show less popular sports simply because they are live and available.
“It will be a very difficult situation, but broadcasters and sports organizations will evolve and innovate.”
“Massive gatherings are not going to happen for some time, so they will have to find new ways to cater to sports fans.”
For some sports organizations, television revenue and sponsorship money are not a major factor in how they are funded, but that does not mean they are not in trouble.
The Irish Sports Federation, which represents most of the major sports governance bodies in Ireland, says that Covid-19 is having a serious impact on membership dues.
“We would have a membership of more than 110 agencies, and 77 of them are national government agencies. To give an example: A national government agency has told me that 85% of its membership income was reduced this year, due to Covid -19, “said Mary O’Connor, CEO of the Irish Sports Federation
“That is enormous if that were repeated in the other national government bodies. That would be a great challenge for sport in this country,” he added.
She said that there are some sports clubs that have closed due to this pandemic and that they will not return, but those that remain solvent may require financial assistance from the State to return.
“There have already been a remarkable number of golf clubs that have said they have closed but cannot reopen. And that is a big concern. And obviously the clubs are hibernating right now.”
“But there will have to be some support requirement to make sure they have working capital to get back up and running, and that’s very, very important.”
“And what we don’t want to happen is that sports clubs are closed forever simply because they couldn’t pay their mortgage or the lease or rent of their facilities.”
“This is a difficult time for sport. It is a difficult time for sports stars, managers and players.”
“Some people would see sport as something they are entertained by, but for 35,000 people in this country it is also their job and their livelihood, and that must be taken into account,” he said.
It is unclear how much of the sport we know and love will normally return when this pandemic runs its course.
A key to life that was so strongly defined by rules and structure, by the match schedule and by the unwavering loyalty of supporters has now turned into confusion.
Of course, Bill Shankly was not speaking during a pandemic when he made his famous “life and death” comments about soccer, and his words would obviously seem out of place today.
His modern-day counterpart, Jurgen Klopp, set the perfect tone last month when he said, “Soccer always seems to be the most important of the least important. Today, soccer and soccer games really don’t matter.”
It is a feeling that resonates with Michael Maye. He is also a soccer fanatic, although his preferred code is Gaelic soccer.
Mayo Man is an unconditional supporter of his county team. A fanatic of never missing a game, or at least he was, until the coronavirus hit the country.
“Oh, it went from one extreme to the other, the highs were high and the lows were low,” he says of days gone by.
“We had more good days than bad, we had good times traveling around the country. It’s magical. I don’t think there is any other sport like this in the world like this. I really don’t think it exists.”
But her circumstances changed when her mother became ill.
She had a stroke three years ago and Michael is now her full-time caregiver.
“I would never miss a game once, but the priorities have now completely changed for me. I am worried all the time now. Even our own extended family now does not come close to home.”
“We have isolated ourselves for the past five weeks, and in the condition my mother is in, she is extremely vulnerable.”
For the foreseeable future, I can’t see myself coming back. I couldn’t risk being honest with you. There was once in life and death for me to get to a soccer game, but now it really is life or death for my mother. That’s how serious this Covid-19 is. “
The pandemic has brought a new and more brutal sense of perspective for Michael Maye.
Its history shows that sport, in all its grandeur, with all the joy it brings, is quickly dispensed with when our loved ones are in danger.
To put it another way, sport is not a matter of life and death. It is much, much less important than that.
For more information on this tune in ‘This Week’ on RTÉ Radio 1 at 1pm.
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