It is probably fair to say that many sports will never be the same again, once the world comes out the other side of the Coronavirus pandemic. That may be good news to many, it will be bad news to some, but it also means that there will be new opportunities.
It has been interesting to see how various sporting clubs and organisations have reacted. Some have clearly waited as long as they can without announcing the measures that they have put in place to try and safeguard their sport or club. There is no doubt that many have painstakingly worked through various scenarios, and tried to come up with a model that at this time will protect the club or the sport’s future.
Some have communicated well with their staff and kept them appraised of what is happening on a daily, or more regular basis. Sadly some have not.
The fans of many clubs have lost their jobs. The economy in most countries is going to be affected for many years to come. Money from Government to support sporting pursuits is going to dry up as they have to pay back the debts caused by Covid-19. So how many clubs and sports will survive without that funding?
Clearly the television stations are never going to pay what they have paid in the past for broadcast rights. Some of them may also fall by the wayside in the next 18 months. Certainly the whizz-bang production we have all enjoyed for the past five years or so with multiple cameras is going to become a thing of the past. One TV Producer from a major sport has already hinted that they have been told the production costs will be reduced by not tens of thousands, but hundreds of thousands. Many will return to a very basic broadcast product.
What that means is that players who have really enjoyed the best of times, need to accept that the bubble has burst. No longer can they expect to be paid salaries that are similar to telephone numbers.
What has been interesting to watch is how the clubs that employ these players are handling the current situation. Some as we have seen in Australia have stood down all of their players, while the league is on hold.
Clearly on the face of it this is understandable. No games means no revenue, which means it is hard to pay players who are not playing.
It was former Perth Glory co-owner John Spence who said that the A-League was “a billionaires club for millionaires.” In other words the franchise model was ideal for those with money to try and play amongst the big boys in Europe.
The current situation has shown how true his comment was, and how flawed the Franchise model is. As the minute that one of the franchise owners feels the pinch they either pull the pin on the club, or as we have seen here, stop paying staff and players.
The FFA must shoulder some of the blame in this instance. They approved the owners of the A-League clubs. They have however failed to monitor the operations at those A-League clubs closely enough. Clearly some have not been involved in the game for their love of Football, but have used their club for other purposes.
Not just in Australia but across the football world some of these football club owners do not have actual wealth, but are reliant on the value of their businesses on the stock market. Hence the reason they find that they are suddenly in financial difficulty, as the stock market has crashed. A simple analogy is those shares act like a credit card and enable them to spend and borrow money. When the share value falls, their credit card is maxed out.
As we have seen with some businesses who have had to stand down staff they have gone out of their way to try and find them other work. Many have promised that when we come out the other side of this they will have first option on their old job.
Others have seen this as a chance to offload staff without having to answer any unfair dismissal accusations. However this will be an interesting issue as as the Fairwork website advises that “employers should exercise the action to stand down cautiously, because if they stand down employees unlawfully, they will likely be able to recover unpaid wages.”
Of course as many others have written, the athletes need to accept that the current situation is something that is unprecedented. They, like everyone need to make sacrifices. It makes sense at this time to negotiate with your employer and ask for only what you truly need to cover living expenses, thus safeguarding the future of the club and possibly your reputation and job.
Almost every professional footballer today has an agent, or a manager, some have both. Some even have people who write their Twitter posts for them! Often these are obvious by the language used, words that the player themselves would never use. So why are these people not advising those they represent and giving them advice that they could win favour with the fans if they took a cut in wages?
As the great boxer Sugar Ray Leonard discovered and covered in his autobiography, the reason is because when you are a star athlete there are many people making money off of your efforts. Therefore they do not help you make the best decisions in your interests, but they make the decisions that are best for their interests. Very few advised against him making his final comeback as it meant another payday for them, and all the excitement that went with being around a sporting star.
For that exact same reason we are seeing the players’ bodies in football and rugby threatening the clubs who have cut free their players, by standing them down with legal action. These bodies are reliant on the subscription or membership fees that the professional players pay them. Their jobs are once again reliant on the athletes.
Their voice at the moment is in the main falling on deaf ears. What they would be better served doing would be helping the clubs to come to an agreement with their contracted players, one that protects the players livelihood in the future and also the integrity of the players association and the clubs they are currently contracted to.
The current rhetoric is not sitting well with many fans, and will only backfire on all concerned. A new approach would be recommended as currently all three parties are simply displaying publicly how out of touch with reality they are.
The recent YouGov poll in the UK is proof of that. It found that 92% of UK adults thought that Premier League players should be prepared to take a pay cut during the COVID-19 outbreak.
As written in The True Character of Sport to Come to the Fore it is time for those clubs that have claimed for so long to be a ‘part of their community’ and that their fans are part of ‘a family,’ to stand up and be counted. So far only a small number have shown any community spirit or values that most of us associate with a family.
No longer will fans believe in such messaging. Those clubs and sports who show that their leadership has compassion and has communicated with their staff and tried to assist will flourish when this is over. Those who have fallen short face a very tough road ahead trying to win back the fans and more importantly trust. Some inevitably will not survive.
If that is the case then opportunity knocks for those who wish to step up and take their place.
