We could be looking at a major loss is revenue due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Reports suggest that a minimum of $12 million dollars will be lost in revenue. Not only that, but there will be a substantial loss in jobs, and this will have a severe impact on the economy. It is only now that the amount of devastation to be caused by this pandemic is coming into view.
A lot of sporting teams are worried that they might not be able to make it through the pandemic. Especially teams that are of lower revenue and reputation, they are finding it very difficult to put together a long-term financial plan especially when not enough money is coming through and no events being played. There is also the difficulty of not being able to plan when you cannot say for certain when the pandemic will be over.
A lot of economists within the sporting market are explaining how they cannot know for sure what is going to happen with a lot of teams in the sporting industry, not just for baseball but for all sports, because no one has ever seen anything like this before and therefore cannot know for certain where the ending is to it all.
The Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer associations are looking to find some light at the end of the tunnel and put in place a plan that will see some football and baseball being played in 2020, so that everyone has something to look forward to and most importantly the teams involved can keep afloat. There is yet to be a set-in stone structure to this plan and meetings are ongoing, but it looks like it could be a possibility that there is some sort of baseball planning to go ahead for the 2020 season. It may mean that some sports are to be played behind closed doors, which isn’t ideal for fans, but at least it means that something is happening and we as fans can always enjoy the view from our TV screens. But this is also up to the players, will they want to put their own health at risk and come into contact with other players.
When you actually sit and think about the amount of money that is being lost with sports not going ahead, it is remarkable. It is not just the tickets that the fans buy, it goes beyond that. Think deeper into it, as a fan yourself if you go to sporting events. You buy drinks, food, souvenirs, car parking space and more. Think about the sponsors and advertising companies who will not pay teams to have their brand shown in or outside of the stadium because no one is going to be there to see it. Think about TV deals, it all has to be taken into consideration.