Assigning exclusive rights to broadcast professional sport events on TV. These rights are generally compensated on a contractual basis and can refer to an individual event, a tournament or a league.
Published in Chapter:
The Financial Impact: Will Professional Soccer Return to Its Market Value After the COVID-19 Crisis? Insights and Results From an Empirical Study
Soeren Dressler (HTW University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, Germany), Sandra Dressler (Beuth University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, Germany), Thomas Rachfall (University of Applied Sciences, Merseburg, Germany), and Dirk Foerster-Trallo (Fraunhofer Center for International Management and Knowledge Economy (IMW), Leipzig, Germany)
Copyright: © 2021
|Pages: 20
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-6780-7.ch003
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has impacted many industries such as the professional sports business. Almost all professional sports leagues, events, and championships have been either postponed or canceled. This chapter investigates the challenges of reduced revenue streams due to empty venues and canceled broadcasts on TV and on the internet. Also, the effects on the related merchandising business are addressed. Based on a theoretical analysis and an empirical study, the chapter highlights these direct impacts and sheds light on the indirect effects as well. As the pandemic disconnects sports enthusiasts to a certain extent from the team and/or athletes of their choice, certain behavioral aspects could appear. The results of the study underline that the financial effects in the short-term could almost be balanced; the medium- to long-term effects, however, will decrease the market value and threaten the business model of professional sports.