Looking at the financial impact of corona, you would maybe expect the smaller clubs to have suffered most, but in reality it's the big hitters who are hurt more than anyone (in the top divisions at least, the lower leagues are obviously even worse off).
As our knucklehead-in-charge has often implied, these top clubs are ran like multinational corporations nowadays, aiming for infinite growth to please their shareholders. A major disruption such as this pandemic puts enormous pressure on this model.
This endless loop of ever higher worldwide viewership > more tv money > higher wages > excessive transfer sums > need for even more income > ... has been thoroughly disrupted. Look at a club like Barcelona, who were already living on the edge and are now in a full blown financial (and sportive) crisis. It was noticeable in the summer window as well. There were no really big spenders, except for Chelsea, who were sitting on a mountain of Hazard-cash. I expect the next transfer window to be even more conservative.
Of course the "smaller" clubs are hit badly as well, but they were never throwing around the obscene sums of the big clubs anyway. The PL is somewhat of an outlier, because of the huge TV deals. But even clubs like us and Liverpool will be hit pretty hard. Matchday income alone is 3-5 million/game.
Looking at the top 5 leagues, the impact seems instant:
Serie A: Juve in 4th, already 6 points off the top.
La Liga: Real in 4th, Barcelona in 9th
Premier League: top 7 clubs within 4 points of each other (assuming the Manchester clubs win their game in hand)
Ligue 1: PSG 1 point ahead, but have already lost as many games as they did in the entire season last year
Bundesliga: Bayern 1 point ahead, but looking more vulnerable that in the past years
Will this last? It seems unavoidable that football clubs will need to rethink their spending strategies post-corona. Will this lead to more competitive leagues? Or will everything be back to "normal" within a couple of years.
I really hope some good can come out of this. As professor Chris Brady said:
"The greatest opportunity for all sporting organisations is the chance to engage in deep internal analysis around potential restructuring of the organisation, and the business model, that would ensure viability for the future after COVID-19. It is an opportunity to think in radical terms. As with many innovations, the 'burning bridge' is a powerful incentive. The prospect of a financial meltdown 10 times worse than that of the 2008 recession is such a burning bridge."
As our knucklehead-in-charge has often implied, these top clubs are ran like multinational corporations nowadays, aiming for infinite growth to please their shareholders. A major disruption such as this pandemic puts enormous pressure on this model.
This endless loop of ever higher worldwide viewership > more tv money > higher wages > excessive transfer sums > need for even more income > ... has been thoroughly disrupted. Look at a club like Barcelona, who were already living on the edge and are now in a full blown financial (and sportive) crisis. It was noticeable in the summer window as well. There were no really big spenders, except for Chelsea, who were sitting on a mountain of Hazard-cash. I expect the next transfer window to be even more conservative.
Of course the "smaller" clubs are hit badly as well, but they were never throwing around the obscene sums of the big clubs anyway. The PL is somewhat of an outlier, because of the huge TV deals. But even clubs like us and Liverpool will be hit pretty hard. Matchday income alone is 3-5 million/game.
Looking at the top 5 leagues, the impact seems instant:
Serie A: Juve in 4th, already 6 points off the top.
La Liga: Real in 4th, Barcelona in 9th
Premier League: top 7 clubs within 4 points of each other (assuming the Manchester clubs win their game in hand)
Ligue 1: PSG 1 point ahead, but have already lost as many games as they did in the entire season last year
Bundesliga: Bayern 1 point ahead, but looking more vulnerable that in the past years
Will this last? It seems unavoidable that football clubs will need to rethink their spending strategies post-corona. Will this lead to more competitive leagues? Or will everything be back to "normal" within a couple of years.
I really hope some good can come out of this. As professor Chris Brady said:
"The greatest opportunity for all sporting organisations is the chance to engage in deep internal analysis around potential restructuring of the organisation, and the business model, that would ensure viability for the future after COVID-19. It is an opportunity to think in radical terms. As with many innovations, the 'burning bridge' is a powerful incentive. The prospect of a financial meltdown 10 times worse than that of the 2008 recession is such a burning bridge."
