Will COVID-19 be the needle that finally bursts the sports bubble?

Thought this might be a topic that deserves its own thread, but feel free to merge it into another thread if not. As we've all seen in recent years, both professional and college sports continue to get more expensive for fans and sponsors. PSLs, increased ticket, parking and concession prices, the cost of apparel has skyrocketed and networks have shelled out billions of dollars to air these leagues. All the while, team owners continue to strongarm cities into build stadiums and arenas that are now coming with billion dollar price tags.

I was in Las Vegas at the Rio for an event last month. The ongoing rumor for years has been that the hotel will be torn down to build a baseball stadium to try and lure a Major League team. We discussed this one night at dinner and I said I think the trend of taxpayers funding stadiums is done for a while, especially with the economic devastation this virus is going to leave behind for a city like Vegas.

Will this virus and the need to socially distance coupled with the damn near certain economic recession that's coming finally put the brakes on this stuff or am I being too idealistic?

 

Baseball barely survived the Great Depression. One of their solutions was, upon Repeal, to sell beer at the ballpark. The financial crisis recession had little to no impact on professional sports. Obviously if three of the four pro team sports lose a season, that's a big impact, but to my mind, sports, like all other businesses, is dependent on people feeling safe from the virus. If they do, demand will pick up rapidly. If they don't, there will be nobody at games even if play resumes. So as with so many things, we don't know.

 

1o million filing unemployment (so far), how many will reclaim jobs and when

Nothing will be the same after this

(PSLs are still a great deal...)

 

Iowa State coaches will have pay reduced, in financial belt-tightening move due to losses from coronavirus

 

TV deals may save sports long enough to hold leagues over until fans come back. Football and the NBA (at least) aren't going to suddenly become unpopular but people may not want to pay the high prices to go right away. In the interim, bring concession prices down and have more discounted game tickets. Make it easier for families to go. Eventually the people will return. Hell, I was walking through my neighborhood the other day and a family had a TV set up on the lawn watching a classic hockey game. If that isn't hope we'll come back to sports...

 

Here's something I've always wondered about: Do Collective Bargaining Agreements have clauses in them for things like this? I realize the solution for financially flailing franchises has always been to move to greener pastures, but what if there are no greener pastures and teams just fold? Unlikely, but what would happen to players with guaranteed contracts and no team to pay them? Does the league office assume obligations? Or are the obligations moot?

 

I assume they'd be creditors in bankruptcy court, whether secured (by the language in the contract) or unsecured I don't know. But the obligations are not moot. It's just how close to the front (or back) of the settlement line they'd stand.

 

The NHL, the shakiest of the Big Four financially, survived an entire season on strike. Pro sports will adjust to the new marketplace and be just fine.

 

Major pro sports will adjust and do fine. There will probably be some significant trimming of business staffs, but there is an awful lot of fat there. Fringe pro sports and college programs outside of the Power Five are going to feel a significant pinch.

 

If the players were on strike, they weren't paid. So that expense gets spared. Same with travel.

If the NCAA's insurance policy is any guide, the leagues won't recoup a great deal of cash for the unplayed games.

 

Longtime sports news update guy for WFAN, John Minko, gets the axe. It's a topsy-turvy world we live in.

 

We won’t know for a few years. Will employment rebound? Will the public feel OK in large crowds? Will there we lockdowns, followed by all-clear, followed by another lockdown when a second or third wave of infections hits?