Analysis by ESPN has found that the Covid-19 pandemic will cost the US sports industry $12bn in revenue and see the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Describing the situation as an “economic catastrophe”, the broadcaster says the meltdown is “a fraction of the crisis spreading across the country”, but it is “nonetheless historic”.
Patrick Rishe, from Washington University in St Louis, said: “As an economist, you stand back, you look at the carnage that’s taking place – dumbfounded, awestruck, mind-numbing. All of those phrases, they’re all relevant because we just have never seen anything on this scale.”
Should the US college football and NFL schedules be wiped out by the pandemic this could see the economic damage double for the sports industry in the States.
The analysis predicts that professional sports will lose $5.5bn while college sport stands to lose $3.9bn.
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$2.4bn losses for US youth sports tourism
The losses won’t just hit professional and college sport but also the tourism sectors. ESPN’s analysis predicts that tourism related to youth sports is expected to lose $2.4bn.
The Sports Events & Tourism Association (SportsETA) published a survey recently that found nearly 700,000 athletes were unable to take part in events in March and this cost organisers more than $700m alone. Al Kidd, president and CEO of SportsETA, said: “Right now people are still in shock.”
Amir Eylon, the president and CEO of market research company Longwoods International, described the exponential economic loss as “mind-boggling”.
Read the full analysis at espn.com
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