by Seb Martin (who was today awarded the School's Sports Journalism Prize).
Coronavirus has had a significant impact in many different areas of the sporting world. From grass roots and Sunday league to elite level sport, the virus has put a halt to it all, and there are consequences across the board.
Lower league football clubs, in particular, are in a state of uncertainty. Teams have not played a match in months and this is a huge problem for a number of reasons. Clubs are still having to spend money to pay players wages, as players still rely on this source of income for their livelihood (although there have been a fair few examples of players accepting wage reductions). Clubs have other ongoing expenses, such as paying other staff and maintaining their stadiums. Their costs are still relatively high, and this is very problematic as their income has completely dried up. Lower league football clubs have to be very careful when managing their finances under normal circumstances, and so to have no income coming into the club means big problems. Their income comprises ticket sales, sponsorship money and merchandise sales from club shops. Without these sources of income it means that the clubs are turning over huge losses each month and some clubs simply can't run like this, and are facing extremely tough decisions over what to do in these unprecedented times. Barry Fry, the former Director of football at League 1 club Peterborough FC, has warned that many clubs may be forced to fold during this time. This could be catastrophic for English football, as many great teams with illustrious histories may be lost in the midst of this pandemic. Fingers crossed.
On the other end of the spectrum, elite level sport has also been impacted badly. Top earning athletes are being targeted by the media, and in many cases this has been unfair and undeserved. There has been lots of controversy around whether top level athletes should have their wages cut, whether they are doing enough for charity etc. For example, Arsenal football player Mesut Ozil was dragged through the mud in the media after refusing to accept a wage cut. He was one of only three Arsenal players to reject this wage cut despite being the highest paid player in the squad. This was the story put out in the media to try and portray Ozil as a selfish person, but in a statement from Mesut Ozil and the football club the following day it was revealed that Ozil had been doing a lot for charity during this time (something he has done for a sustained period of time). The reason that he had not accepted the pay cut was because he wanted to have control over where his money was going, and to ensure he could donate as he wished to charity, which is completely understandable given that he did not know what the owners of the club would do with this money if he were to accept the cut to his wages.
Another negative impact that coronavirus has had on elite level sport, and particularly on sports such as tennis, athletics and golf, is that the top level athletes (excluding the few big stars in these sports, who have lucrative sponsorship deals and are already rich) rely on tournament money to earn a living. When athletes go to these tournaments, the prize money is what they are playing for. Less well known names in tennis rely on tournaments such as Wimbledon and the French Open to make their money. First round prize money for Wimbledon 2019 was £45,000, which is a very substantial amount for a tennis player who is less well known, and not raking in the big money from sponsorships etc. Without this source of revenue, many tennis players, athletes and golfers will be losing their main source of income. This will bring uncertainty and doubt as to where their next paycheck will come from etc, and is another dark cloud over sport during these times.
Coronavirus has also affected many athletes and clubs in their preparations for tournaments and competitions that will now either not take place, not be finished or be postponed for an unclear period of time. Lots of these top athletes and clubs have committed a lot of money that is essentially for nothing. For example, in the EFL championship, Leeds United brought in over 10 new players for the 2019/2020, spending big money on players wages and transfer fees in order to secure promotion to the Premier League, which they have been agonisingly close to in previous years. They are currently sitting in 1st place in the Championship, with automatic promotion all but secured, barring a major slip up. Coronavirus has now potentially put a stop to that. There has been a lot of talk about making the football leagues ‘null and void’, essentially meaning that Leeds would not be promoted to the Premier League and all that hard work and spending would be for nothing, with a lot of their players on loan as well and most likely not returning next season to push for the title again. If this happens, it will mean teams and athletes spend lots of money, without getting anything back. This again could put some of these athletes and clubs in financial trouble and be a major issue for the sporting world.
Overall I would say that there have been a lot of negative effects on sport caused by the global pandemic that have applied pressure to many areas of the industry. However, we need to put this in context as there are bigger problems in the world and many sports people have stated the health and safety of everyone is paramount and should always be put first. Hopefully sport will be back on our screens soon, and the coronavirus pandemic will be a thing of the past.
If you would like to write about sport for Portsmouth Point or if you would like to find out more about the PGS Sports Journalism Prize, please see below:
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| Mesut Ozil: victim of smears |
Lower league football clubs, in particular, are in a state of uncertainty. Teams have not played a match in months and this is a huge problem for a number of reasons. Clubs are still having to spend money to pay players wages, as players still rely on this source of income for their livelihood (although there have been a fair few examples of players accepting wage reductions). Clubs have other ongoing expenses, such as paying other staff and maintaining their stadiums. Their costs are still relatively high, and this is very problematic as their income has completely dried up. Lower league football clubs have to be very careful when managing their finances under normal circumstances, and so to have no income coming into the club means big problems. Their income comprises ticket sales, sponsorship money and merchandise sales from club shops. Without these sources of income it means that the clubs are turning over huge losses each month and some clubs simply can't run like this, and are facing extremely tough decisions over what to do in these unprecedented times. Barry Fry, the former Director of football at League 1 club Peterborough FC, has warned that many clubs may be forced to fold during this time. This could be catastrophic for English football, as many great teams with illustrious histories may be lost in the midst of this pandemic. Fingers crossed.
On the other end of the spectrum, elite level sport has also been impacted badly. Top earning athletes are being targeted by the media, and in many cases this has been unfair and undeserved. There has been lots of controversy around whether top level athletes should have their wages cut, whether they are doing enough for charity etc. For example, Arsenal football player Mesut Ozil was dragged through the mud in the media after refusing to accept a wage cut. He was one of only three Arsenal players to reject this wage cut despite being the highest paid player in the squad. This was the story put out in the media to try and portray Ozil as a selfish person, but in a statement from Mesut Ozil and the football club the following day it was revealed that Ozil had been doing a lot for charity during this time (something he has done for a sustained period of time). The reason that he had not accepted the pay cut was because he wanted to have control over where his money was going, and to ensure he could donate as he wished to charity, which is completely understandable given that he did not know what the owners of the club would do with this money if he were to accept the cut to his wages.
Another negative impact that coronavirus has had on elite level sport, and particularly on sports such as tennis, athletics and golf, is that the top level athletes (excluding the few big stars in these sports, who have lucrative sponsorship deals and are already rich) rely on tournament money to earn a living. When athletes go to these tournaments, the prize money is what they are playing for. Less well known names in tennis rely on tournaments such as Wimbledon and the French Open to make their money. First round prize money for Wimbledon 2019 was £45,000, which is a very substantial amount for a tennis player who is less well known, and not raking in the big money from sponsorships etc. Without this source of revenue, many tennis players, athletes and golfers will be losing their main source of income. This will bring uncertainty and doubt as to where their next paycheck will come from etc, and is another dark cloud over sport during these times.
Coronavirus has also affected many athletes and clubs in their preparations for tournaments and competitions that will now either not take place, not be finished or be postponed for an unclear period of time. Lots of these top athletes and clubs have committed a lot of money that is essentially for nothing. For example, in the EFL championship, Leeds United brought in over 10 new players for the 2019/2020, spending big money on players wages and transfer fees in order to secure promotion to the Premier League, which they have been agonisingly close to in previous years. They are currently sitting in 1st place in the Championship, with automatic promotion all but secured, barring a major slip up. Coronavirus has now potentially put a stop to that. There has been a lot of talk about making the football leagues ‘null and void’, essentially meaning that Leeds would not be promoted to the Premier League and all that hard work and spending would be for nothing, with a lot of their players on loan as well and most likely not returning next season to push for the title again. If this happens, it will mean teams and athletes spend lots of money, without getting anything back. This again could put some of these athletes and clubs in financial trouble and be a major issue for the sporting world.
Overall I would say that there have been a lot of negative effects on sport caused by the global pandemic that have applied pressure to many areas of the industry. However, we need to put this in context as there are bigger problems in the world and many sports people have stated the health and safety of everyone is paramount and should always be put first. Hopefully sport will be back on our screens soon, and the coronavirus pandemic will be a thing of the past.
If you would like to write about sport for Portsmouth Point or if you would like to find out more about the PGS Sports Journalism Prize, please see below:
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