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Covid-19 hits football hard say Deloitte

Deloitte Sports Business have produced an update of their 2020 Money League to take account of the impact of Covid-19 on the football industry.   I will attempt to summarise some of the main insights, but the whole document repays reading: https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/sports-business-group/articles/covid-19-football-and-digital-2020-21-season-and-beyond.html

The main take home lesson is that the impact of Covid-19 is potentially destructive, but it is up to each club to be agile and develop strategies that will enable them to cope.   Deloitte estimate the total revenue loss for the 20 richest clubs at €2bn by the end of the season.

Bayern Munich overtook Manchester United to become the third highest earner behind Barcelona and Real Madrid.  The German club's revenues were €634m compared with €580m at Manchester United.  The Bundesliga's quicker resumption of play in 2019/20 was a factor for Bayern Munich.   The Bundesliga was also able to negotiate a television deal that was relatively favourable in the circumstances.

Commentary from Forbes with special reference to the Bundesliga here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/manuelveth/2021/01/26/deloitte-report-bundesliga-covid-19-restart-limited-financial-impact/?sh=28951004672f

As we have noted before, the prospect of big losses has made the idea of a European Super League more attractive to top clubs.  Deloitte partner Dan Jones, one of the leading experts on football finance, warned 'of the disruption and risk that comes with the super league.'  

He added that he was 'fundamentally quite positive ... that top level sport will rebound well and we will get some normality.  It feels like people are trying to fix something that isn't broken.'

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