What has been
the biggest impact of the pandemic thus far on the sports & sports media
industries? Which league/event/sports media organization has the most to lose? Who
could possibly gain/benefit from the current situation? Do you think the
pandemic will have any lasting impact/creating any long-term changes on sports?
Limit: 8 responses
The sports world was put on a tentative hold ever since Jazz star Rudy Gobert tested positive for the Coronavirus. A game between Utah and Oklahoma City was postponed moments prior to tipoff, which set off a wild string of events soon after. The NBA was the first league to act, suspending their season only minutes after Gobert’s positive test. The next day, MLB and NHL both suspended their operations, while March Madness was outright cancelled (King, 2020). There is no way to truly know what the impact of the virus will have on these leagues, and for just how long it will be before play resumes (King, 2020). Leagues have been put on hold for other reasons in the past, such as labor disputes. The NBA in 2011 and the NHL in 2012, both experienced lockouts which cost them games (King, 2020). However, the leagues have never seen anything to this magnitude.
ReplyDeleteOf all the sports, I think the NBA and college basketball will suffer the greatest loses, particularly in finances. The NBA had 259 games remaining on their schedule when the season came to a standstill, meaning 21% of the regular season could be lost (Paine, 2020). While commissioner Adam Silver is hopeful to resume play, this is certainly no guarantee. If games cannot resume, or are played in empty arenas, the NBA will lose out on all gate revenue (Paine, 2020). Though, the losses for the NBA would expand much further in a worst-case scenario. Between merchandise sales, food costs, and parking fees, there’s a ton more at stake for the NBA. In totality, if the NBA cannot resume the remaining 20% of its’ season, it could wind up as a $150-200 million loss (Paine, 2020). I also believe the NCAA will find themselves in a lot of trouble, due to the first ever cancellation of the men’s March Madness tournament. Major-college athletic directors are already planning on the NCAA not being able to recover financially from this cancellation. One athletic director even said “the economics of all of this could definitely be extensive” (Berkowitz, 2020). In fact, the NCAA depends on the men’s basketball tournament for nearly all of its’ roughly $1.1 billion in normal annual revenue (Berkowitz, 2020). The NCAA is supposed to begin redistributing payments to division I schools on April 15th, but its’ likely that those payments are delayed (Berkowitz, 2020). At this rate, it could be a long time before those finances are sorted out completely.
While I do not believe there are many winners in the realm of sports right now, I see how a platform such as ESPN+ could stand to benefit. With no major sports leagues currently in operation, diehard sports fans such as myself will still be looking for content to fill that void. I don’t keep an ESPN+ membership year-round, but I recently did re-subscribe. I think there are a lot of sports fans like myself, who will turn to other outlets for sports content during this time. I also believe this pandemic could have a long-term impact for some sports. For example, I think that the MLB will likely be forced to cut a chunk of games from their 162-game schedule, at least for this year. That is, unless they want to be playing postseason games in December. I also feel that the NBA may end up starting its’ season later from now on. I’ve heard rumors that the NBA may shift opening day to Christmas day in future seasons. If this current season is delayed for as long as it appears destined for, this is a growing possibility.
Works Cited
DeleteBerkowitz, S., & Wolken, D. (2020, March 17). Athletic directors planning for NCAA being unable to cover financial losses of canceled March Madness. Retrieved March 22, 2020, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2020/03/17/coronavirus-ncaa-faces-serious-financial-issues-no-march-madness/5073405002/
King, B. (2020, March 16). Coronavirus: Seasons interrupted . Retrieved March 22, 2020, from https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2020/03/16/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/Seasons.aspx
Paine, N. (2020, March 16). The Coronavirus’s Economic Effect On Sports Could Be Staggering Retrieved March 22, 2020, from https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-coronaviruss-economic-effect-on-sports-could-be-staggering/
Max Marino
ReplyDeleteThere has never been a time in this world when there was not at least one major sport going on. The coronavirus pandemic has taken over this entire world, and sports now seems like a distant memory. Wednesday March 11th, the NBA announced that their season has been suspended. The following day is when it all came to a halt, as all the other sporting leagues followed and suspended their seasons. Soccer leagues, National Hockey League, and the MLB stopped what they were doing immediately. Now with everyone on lockdown, it is uncertain when the sports like basketball and hockey will resume their seasons and just how things will be run. This unprecedented virus has left the entire sports world in the rearview mirror.
Sports networks are struggling right now to produce revenue because obviously there is no live sports to be watched. Networks like CBS has gone to old March Madness tournament games due to the virus cancelling this year’s tournament. ESPN has had their usual talk shows in the morning on a shorter schedule but has a lot of time at night considering there are no sports to be watched. Brian Steinberg wrote an article for Variety about how during this pandemic, ESPN plans to show old Wrestlemania’s on the network. This gives wrestling fans a chance to see an old PPV that they couldn’t see before because they did not buy the package. “It is a privilege for us to deliver historic WrestleMania content to our world-class partners at ESPN and provide more premium programming to our fans; putting smiles on their faces particularly during this trying time,” said Stephanie McMahon, the WWE’s chief brand officer, in a statement. (Steinberg).
The NBA was the first league to shut down due to the virus, and many have commended the league’s commissioner Adam Silver for making the decision. Jack Maloney wrote an article for CBS Sports on Adam Silver discussing the NBA’s plans on what to do with their season when this pandemic is over. It was reported today from Ramona Shelbourne on ESPN that commissioner Silver and the NBA are doing everything they can to salvage the season, whenever it may return. "I don't, I'm optimistic by nature, and I want to believe we're gonna be able to salvage at least some portion of the season. Again, I'd say we've done new and creative things in the past, we experimented with this year's All-Star Game with a unique ending, we've talked about play-in tournaments for going into the playoffs, there may be other things we can do with the format,” says Silver (Maloney). The NBA and NHL to me are the most affected because they are mid-season, so they are struggling with how to finish the season. Luckily for the NBA they are in good hands with Commissioner Silver.
One Sport it could be good for can be Major League Baseball. Many complain that the MLB season is too long with their usual 162 games, and this season will obviously be shortened. One team in my opinion it helps is the New York Yankees. The Yankees dating back to last year have been hurt with injuries and received bad news this spring training when they heard Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton would miss the season opener with injuries. In an article written by Rob Lep for WFAN, he mentioned a quote Judge had to say about the extended break. “That’s the silver lining in all of this, having the ability to not feel rushed trying to get back for a certain date," Judge told reporters Friday. "We don’t really have a date right now. I’m just trying to let it heal. Not trying to rush it,” (Lep).
Sports should not be the main concern for this country as we are going through a national crisis. However, as a die-hard sports fan, I speak for everyone with me when I say we miss it. This pandemic wouldn’t be so bad if we had a game to turn to every night. We just have to do our part and hope that everything will go back to normal soon.
Steinberg, Brian. “ESPN Plans to Air Classic 'WrestleMania' Events (EXCLUSIVE).” Variety, 20 Mar. 2020, variety.com/2020/tv/news/espn-wrestlemania-wwe-tv-sports-1203540417/
DeleteMaloney, Jack. “NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Discusses Impact of Coronavirus, Says He Believes League Can 'Salvage' Season.” CBSSports.com, 19 Mar. 2020, www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-commissioner-adam-silver-discusses-impact-of-coronavirus-says-he-believes-league-can-salvage-season
Lep, Rob. “Judge Says His Ribs Are Healing, Also Suffered Partial Lung Collapse.” WFAN Sports Radio 66AM 101.9FM, 20 Mar. 2020, wfan.radio.com/articles/news/yankees-of-aaron-judge-says-his-ribs-are-healing
Steinberg, Brian. “ESPN Plans to Air Classic 'WrestleMania' Events (EXCLUSIVE).” Variety, 20 Mar. 2020, variety.com/2020/tv/news/espn-wrestlemania-wwe-tv-sports-1203540417/
ReplyDeleteMaloney, Jack. “NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Discusses Impact of Coronavirus, Says He Believes League Can 'Salvage' Season.” CBSSports.com, 19 Mar. 2020, www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-commissioner-adam-silver-discusses-impact-of-coronavirus-says-he-believes-league-can-salvage-season
Lep, Rob. “Judge Says His Ribs Are Healing, Also Suffered Partial Lung Collapse.” WFAN Sports Radio 66AM 101.9FM, 20 Mar. 2020, wfan.radio.com/articles/news/yankees-of-aaron-judge-says-his-ribs-are-healing
Quinn Frankel
ReplyDeleteI remember a few weeks ago, I was sitting around with my roommates and someone asked, “What would you do if there were no sports on, right now?” We all laughed about how silly that question sounded, as we all realized how different and rough our lives would be if sports weren’t around. Little did we know that a few weeks later, all sporting events would be put on hold because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It all started when a regular season NBA game between the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder was postponed right before the game tipped off. I remember watching the game and seeing the shock and despair on all the fans and players faces when the announcement was made. This was all a result of Utah Jazz all-star center Rudy Gobert testing positive for COVID-19 (King). From continuing the season with no fans in attendance, this immediately set the NBA back and later that night, the league announced it would pause its season indefinitely. Once the NBA paused its season, the rest of American major sporting leagues followed. The next day the NHL and Major League Soccer suspended their seasons. Major League Baseball shut down spring training and pushed Opening Day back at least two weeks. The NCAA canceled March Madness, the College World Series and every other spring championship for the rest of the year (King). This is the first time in history that any of the leagues or the NCAA has seen anything to this magnitude.
The league that has lost the most from the impact of this pandemic is the NCAA, and more specifically college basketball. All senior athletes, who were playing their hearts out this year for a shot at playing in the historic season, have lost all eligibility to play. That’s a huge problem for the NCAA to solve because they need to decide if they’ll ever be eligible to play in the NCAA again. The NCAA depends on March Madness for nearly $1.1 billion in revenue (Berkowitz). Without all the revenue that March Madness would bring in, the NCAA faces severe financial problems. The NCAA is supposed to begin redistributing payments to Division I schools, because Division I public-school athletic departments receive 2 to 5% of the total operating revenue from the NCAA, but it’s very likely that those payments are going to be delayed (Berkowitz).
Quinn Frankel - Part 2
DeleteAlthough no one in the sports industry is really a “winner” from this entire pandemic. I think a great example of what sport media outlets should be doing can be seen with how Scott Van Pelt has handled this with the nightly episodes of SportsCenter. Scott Van Pelt has always been an extremely respectable anchor, but with his #SeniorNight campaign it’s shown how he can bring some positive stories during dark times. Since so many college and high school athletes saw their seasons and playing career ends, Scott Van Pelt has been sharing their stories every night on SportsCenter, and giving them a senior night they deserve (Young). I think more should take after Scott Van Pelt’s lead, and celebrate past accomplishments of players, who may never celebrate playing the game ever again.
Berkowitz, S., & Wolken, D. (2020, March 17). Athletic directors planning for NCAA being unable to cover financial losses of canceled March Madness. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2020/03/17/coronavirus-ncaa-faces-serious-financial-issues-no-march-madness/5073405002/ King, B. (2020, March 16). Coronavirus: Seasons interrupted . Retrieved from https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2020/03/16/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/Seasons.aspx
Michael Reilly (1/2)
ReplyDeleteThe biggest impact of the pandemic thus far on sports and sports media industries has been the gap in programming on sports networks. The suspension of the NBA and NHL seasons has left networks such as ESPN and NBCSN with massive amounts of empty airtime. As of now, these leagues and the organizations that broadcast their games have the most to lose. While Major League Baseball has also delayed its season, it theoretically could still see a major portion of its season. The NBA, NHL, Disney, and NBCUniversal have the most to lose from the gap in programming because the sports’ seasons were about to hit their peak and enter the playoffs. The postseason is the pinnacle of any sports league. It allows the league to showcase its stars and earn a large chunk of money through ticket sales and television deals. Without this revenue and games to broadcast, these networks’ employees are left without work to do. This will impact their financial well-being and their job security entirely. In response, these organizations have found ways to fill the vacant airtime in order to entertain sports fans and generate revenue for their organizations, which will help prevent layoffs. For instance, ESPN is airing classic WrestleMania events on television and via streaming on its mobile app for three Sundays, which started this past week (Steinberg). In addition, NBCSN is airing classic NHL games from the past decade, including “Stanley Cup clinchers, Game 7 overtime thrillers, NHL outdoor games, Olympic hockey moments, and the best of the Sidney Crosby–Alex Ovechkin rivalry” (NBC Sports). In the absence of live sports, these organizations are finding ways to engage their audiences and still keep their brands relevant. This is imperative for these networks; they have the most to lose, which gives them unique opportunities to fill their airwaves.
While these organizations and others will innovate with the lack of live sports, I don’t foresee a league or sports media organization benefiting from the current situation. Sports talk radio channels could benefit slightly as a source of familiarity and distraction. Brian Hall, Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia, Asheville/Greenville/Greensboro, said that sports talk shows try to be a “neighbor on the air” (Pamfilis), which can be comforting for viewers who are seeking external social interaction. Even with that distraction, it wouldn’t be a massive opportunity for these organizations; it would just be a way to stay afloat. Most sports leagues and sports media organizations are in the same boat and are looking to offset potential massive financial losses.
The biggest long-lasting impact on sports from this pandemic will be the financial ramifications. The leagues will lose money from several revenue streams being cut off, such as television contracts, sponsorship deals, merchandise sales, and ticket sales. According to FiveThirtyEight, the canceled NBA games would cost the league “somewhere between $150 million and $200 million over the last 20 percent of the regular season” (Paine). This would impact everyone in the NBA: owners, players, arena vendors, administrative staff, and more. The NHL would be impacted in the same fashion, even if it loses less money than the NBA. The MLB and WNBA could also be impacted in the same way. The NCAA lost out on its major money-maker in March Madness. Sports are going to be hurt financially, which could drastically alter players’ salaries, television deals, and how sports media professionals will be compensated. In sum, the current situation has more at stake than championships. People who are never in the public eye could be impacted by this pandemic for a long time.
Michael Reilly (2/2)
DeleteWorks Cited
NBC Sports. “NBC SPORTS PRESENTS HOCKEY WEEK IN AMERICA WITH TOP HOCKEY MOMENTS OF PAST DECADE STARTING MARCH 23 ON NBCSN.” NBC Sports Pressbox, 23 Mar. 2020, nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2020/03/20/nbc-sports-presents-hockey-week-in-america-with-top-hockey-moments-of-past-decade-starting-march-23-on-nbcsn/.
Paine, Neil. “The Coronavirus's Economic Effect On Sports Could Be Staggering.” FiveThirtyEight, FiveThirtyEight, 16 Mar. 2020, fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-coronaviruss-economic-effect-on-sports-could-be-staggering/.
Pamfilis, Stan. “Sports Talk Radio Adjusts during the Coronavirus Pandemic.” WLOS, WLOS, 19 Mar. 2020, wlos.com/sports/content/sports-talk-radio-adjusts-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic.
Steinberg, Brian. “ESPN Plans to Air Classic 'WrestleMania' Events (EXCLUSIVE).” Variety, 20 Mar. 2020, variety.com/2020/tv/news/espn-wrestlemania-wwe-tv-sports-1203540417/.
I never thought I would see a day where sports ceased to exist. The pandemic has managed to shut down every single sports league for the foreseeable future and while it was inevitable after the COVID-19 virus started to outbreak, everything became real after an NBA game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Utah Jazz. Before the game could even start, it was determined that one of the players on the Utah Jazz tested positive for the coronavirus. At that point sports fans, sports media professionals and many others realized that things were about to change. Once the NBA suspended season many other leagues followed and after 24 hours all sports were canceled. Although sports will eventually come back and a sense of normalcy will be able to resume, it is completely unknown how much of an impact this pandemic will have on the industry. According to Sports Business Journal, league stoppages like this are not uncommon but happen under different circumstances. One article reads, “The NHL shortened its season during its lockout of 2012 and canceled its entire season in 2004. The NBA lost games during its lockout in 2011. A player strike led to the cancellation of the World Series in 1994” (Branch). Well some leagues have experience in postponing games and seasons due to unfortunate circumstances, no one was prepared for this pandemic. One group that is very affected by this is are the sports media professionals, because without sports they have no jobs. Another big impact is the unknown: we have no idea when things will get better.
ReplyDeleteLIZ FLYNN
DeleteOnce we reach this light at the end of the tunnel, it’s obvious that every league is going to struggle economically. Some leagues will most likely just cancel the rest of the season and pick up again next year while others will most likely try to salvage what’s left. Both options will result in a ton of money lost and teams will need an extended amount of time to recover. One league in particular that will struggle is the NCAA due to the cancellation of 2020’s March Madness. An article on FiveThirtyEight explains that March Madness generates about three-quarters of NCAA’s entire revenue for a year (King). For the entire tournament to be cancelled is devastating for the league.
In this time of struggle, there is a little normalcy thanks to those who work in sports and can provide some relief during this time. You can still turn on your TV and watch older sporting events, important playoff games, big upsets and more. Teams continue to use social media to interact with fans and get creative and remain relevant during this time where no sports or active. Even student media is continuing to promote content they have created throughout the year and trying to do something for athletes and fans that got their worlds turned upside down.
LIZ FLYNN
DeleteI think this pandemic is definitely going to impact the sports world for a long time. We will never forget everything that happened even when leagues can return to the point they were at before the pandemic. An article in the New York Times discussed just how much the sports world will change by the end of all this. It says, “For decades, sports were a constant, part of the background noise of American culture, and maybe an unhealthy obsession” (Paine). This may be true, but when sports come back to the world I feel like we will have a better appreciation for the things we have and sports will be a great way to bring people together again.
Works Cited
Branch, John. “Does Coronavirus Mean the End of Sports as We Know Them?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 14 Mar. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/sports/sports-coronavirus-canceled-events.html.
King, Bill. “Coronavirus: Seasons Interrupted.” Sports Business Daily, 16 Mar. 2020. www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2020/03/16/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/Seasons.aspx.
Paine, Neil. “The Coronavirus's Economic Effect On Sports Could Be Staggering.” FiveThirtyEight, FiveThirtyEight, 16 Mar. 2020, fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-coronaviruss-economic-effect-on-sports-could-be-staggering/.