Waiting for football to return to the stadiums we follow information about the next cuts announced by major clubs. Should we be surprised that organisations capable of spending tens of millions of euros on new signings have now had to furlough their office workers? Find out more with STATSCORE.
– The football that will come after the virus will be totally different … (more) inclusive, more social and more supportive, connected to the individual countries and at the same time more global, less arrogant and more welcoming – Gianni Infantino, FIFA president, said on April 2 when talking to the Italian agency ANSA.
Will football be different after the coronavirus?
Read this to understand that nothing like this will happen. We will not be telling our children about the football before and the football after the virus. We won’t be talking about the sport’s financial inequality, the race of budgets, the entire league games settled by hundreds of millions of euros spent on transfers in summer, which was then suddenly changed in 2020 in the result of the coronavirus pandemic. This will not happen because those disproportions are rooted so deeply in European football that even the virus is not a force that could change them.
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The football business is perhaps the best example of the employee market. According to the judgment in the Bosman’s case from nearly thirty years ago, after the end of the contract, the player can go to any club with which he can reach an agreement. In practice, this means that he or she goes where they are offered the most money. From the perspective of football clubs, the Bosman’s ruling tied the opportunities for sports success to the club’s financial capabilities. It seems that any attempt to make football „totally different” at some point must conflict with the openness of borders and the player’s freedom to choose his employer. Financial fair play 2.0? Salary cap? Lawyers will find a solution. Inequality between clubs is an integral element of the development of football, from which many neighbouring industries have benefited for years. FIFA has already announced that it will agree with clubs which (after meeting certain conditions) will want to reduce the salary of players without the athlete’s consent. The chances that someone will let big companies collapse are very low.
New challenges for football organisations
However, it should not be understood that the world of sport will not draw conclusions from a pandemic. There will probably be procedures regulating issues related to potential suspensions or completion of games that will protect us from the uncertainty we have to face now. Moreover, for some time the football’s wealthiest will not be willing to spend hundreds of millions for one player, but this will be just one of the few decreases that we have already seen in football in the past.
After a while, many things will return to normal. Therefore, it is worth taking advantage of this moment and seriously thinking about preparation for sport without supporters in the venues.
Can you think about the development of fan experience in such a situation? Yes, you can! STATSCORE has a ready-made solution that will help you here – TeamCenter.
What to offer to sponsors when the content exposure during sports competitions is reduced? Check out our LeagueCenter, which we have been developing for several years to take the fan’s experience to another level!
Read more: How can sports organisations prepare for future pandemics?
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