“We will not start from scratch because we are privileged. But let's all save football from a crisis that risks being irreversible. " In an Italian daily interview La Gazzetta dello Sport, Monday, March 30, Gianni Infantino, the president of the International Football Federation (FIFA) summarized this strange spring 2020.
With more than 3 billion human beings confined to their homes due to the Covid-19 epidemic, and sports competitions have broken down all over the planet – with the exception of the Belarusian bubble – the small football world is alarmed about its future: in what state will it emerge from this health crisis which is coupled with an economic crisis?
Box office receipts at zero, lack of visibility as to a possible resumption of the championship … Some clubs fear asphyxiation. Bernard Caïazzo, the president of AS Saint-Etienne, summarized, on March 24, the challenge of the coming weeks for French Ligue 1 clubs in particular, whose union he chairs: "If we stay two months without playing, we can rectify the situation. If it's four months, but we finish our domestic and European competitions, clubs can get away with it as long as the next season ends on time. "
The weight of television rights and transfers
That’s a lot of “ifs”… But French football has no choice but to hope that it can bring the season to a close. "In football, the vast majority of income comes from TV rights, said Didier Primault, economist at the Center for Sports Law and Economics. SIf the planned product is not delivered, it can have a very heavy impact if the televisions consider that they do not have to pay the full amount of what was planned. "
Broadcasters have already taken the plunge: Canal + has announced that it does not want to pay the last deal for the Ligue 1 season in France (110 million euros) and BeIN Sports has followed suit (42 million euros) ). However, for Ligue 1 clubs, television rights correspond to 36% of revenue on average, or even around half if we do not take into account the revenue generated by player sales.
"Football is structurally in deficit and balances its balance sheet only by transfers", highlights Didier Primault. Problem: the crisis being global, it’s hard to imagine a transfer window reaching past heights. In the summer of 2019, 6.6 billion euros had been spent on transfer fees in the five major European championships.
