Club Finances Could Suffer Due to COVID-19
2069
The European football season still appears to be some way off from restarting. All of the major leagues have been shut down due to the spread of COVID-19 and although some tentative dates have been suggested for them to continue this currently seems unlikely.
There are many factors which must be considered in terms of the impact the suspension of professional football is having on clubs. In an interesting development in the German Bundesliga this week, Union Berlin’s players decided they were happy to stop receiving their wages for the time being. The whole of the Union Berlin squad said they decided to stop receiving payment because of an "extraordinary and difficult situation".
Borussia Monchengladbach's players were the first in Germany to take steps to forgo their wages in a bid to help the club financially. The club's managing director Stephan Schippers said, "The team has offered to forgo salary if it can help the club and the employees” before adding, "The goal is for Borussia Monchengladbach to survive this corona crisis. The goal is to do this without having to give notice of termination.”
Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund players have also decided to have their wages reduced. This comes as other employees at Bundesliga teams face the possibility of losing their jobs should the league not resume anytime soon.
There has been no suggestion that a similar move will take place from players in the English Premier League or the other major European leagues but that could change in the near future.
There are several other aspects to a professional football clubs finances which could also come under threat over the next couple of months. Sponsorship deals are a major source of income for football clubs but they are relying on the companies who are paying to have their brand associated with teams to remain afloat during this difficult time.
If any of the companies who are currently sponsoring professional football clubs begin to struggle financially themselves it is going to have a knock on effect for football. Yes, many of the major deals involving the top clubs around Europe will already have seen money exchange hands but what happens when these deals run out?
Sponsors may not be lining up to offer the same large sums of money to have their name splashed across the shirt of a Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga or Serie A team. The money being offered by the sponsors to be associated with a football club could be severely reduced and this will see the level of income of the team suffer.
Let's not forget that the top players in the best leagues are all on huge sums of money but this money has to be generated from somewhere. With no money coming in through ticket sales, sponsorship money could be one of the leading sources of income for teams in the future but it may come at a reduced rate.
Trying to play matches behind closed doors as soon as possible is one suggestion which could help to save the finances of many teams. It will be interesting to see if this starts taking place across Europe within the next month
Home
Football 
Basketball
Hockey
American Football
Baseball
Rugby
Volleyball
Handball
Esoccer
