The Sunday Mail
A POLL of 100 cities has revealed their concerns that the Covid-19 pandemic will have a lasting impact on the budgets allocated to hosting sporting events and public perceptions about sport’s ‘travelling circus’ model.
The Burson Cohn & Wolfe Sports Practice surveyed 100 international cities involved in the organisation and hosting of international sports events, conducting the poll over a one-week period from March 23 to March 29 2020.
Forty-three percent of those surveyed said they thought the crisis would have a high impact on the budgets allocated to sports events in 2021, while 10 percent thought the crisis would have a moderate impact.
When asked about the longer-term consequences, 17 percent of those surveyed thought the pandemic would have a high impact on city budgets after 2021.
Following the cancellation of major events like the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the UEFA Euros, rights-holders have been quick to suggest that the return of live sports could provide a rallying point for the general public next year.
Lars Haue-Pedersen, managing director of BCW’s Sports Practice, told SportBusiness: “There is a certain element of solidarity being shown in the crisis with people supporting each other and applauding health workers, and that could also happen on an international level with sport as the catalyst.
“However, it may also be the opposite reaction, (with people) saying let us take care of ourselves. All countries are closing their borders now because they have to. Should they then suddenly open them up and let thousands of athletes from all over the world come in?”
This uncertainty was reflected in the poll, with 33 percent of the cities surveyed worried that the outbreak could have a highly negative influence on public support for hosting international sports events in the future.
To offset this, 21 percent predicted that it would have a low negative influence on public perceptions.
There were also indications that the crisis could force cities to revise their hosting strategies.
Thirty-seven percent of cities thought they would be likely to plan fewer international events in the future, while 12 percent said they planned to take on a greater number of local and national events.
“It is not that easy to just postpone a couple of months and then expect everybody to come,” said Patrik Tengwall, head of event strategy for Stockholm.
An IAAF Diamond League event scheduled for the city on May 24 has been postponed, while the lockdown is also likely to impact the Stockholm Marathon on June 1.
He estimated that international visitors made up 20 percent to 30 percent of the entrants in the Stockholm Marathon.
“If they postpone and try to do the event, let us say in the beginning of August instead, it actually depends on whether we will have international flights up and running again, otherwise the athletes would not come.”
Ahead of the survey, Haue-Pedersen said he was concerned sports rights-holders might neglect their city partners during the crisis and prioritise conversations with sponsors and broadcasters.
The nature of many event contracts is that hosting fees are front-loaded, sometimes being paid up to four years in advance, which might also lead to cities being taken for granted.
The survey showed 56 percent of the cities felt highly informed by the relevant national or international sports organisations regarding the events they were supposed to host and that are now postponed or cancelled.
However, a handful of host cities said they would like more information, with one city representative from Denmark saying they wanted to be involved in the decision to either cancel or postpone events.
There is some evidence that cities are trying to support their rights-holder partners financially, either by helping to pay for the additional staffing costs needed to support an event for an additional year, or by agreeing not to claw back lost event marketing costs. — SportBusiness.
