EuroLeague clubs bracing for massive financial losses
With the EuroLeague season suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, clubs like Olympiacos and Panathinaikos are bracing for huge financial losses as the threat of the campaign being cancelled remains.
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Much like its counterparts around the world, the EuroLeague season remains suspended indefinitely in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The pandemic has proven that it doesn’t discriminate with the likes of Real Madrid forced into self-isolation after a player for the Spanish giants tested positive for the virus.
It was a development that further supported the decision to suspend the season, even if it appeared that EuroLeague Basketball were dragging their feet before announcing the suspension.
But roughly a week since EuroLeague Basketball made the decision to suspend the season, the nature of the situation offers no insight on when EuroLeague action will be able to resume.
That uncertainty is what is forcing clubs like Olympiacos and Panathinaikos to brace for the worst as a further decision to cancel the season would be catastrophic financially for all clubs involved.
Should EuroLeague Basketball ultimately take the decision to cancel the season, there are various factors that will pile up the losses for the likes of Olympiacos and Panathinaikos – and by extension the league itself.
For starters, the loss of revenue from ticket sales would certainly be a blow with still another six games left in the regular season. And with both Greek clubs still in the hunt for the playoffs, there’s even more potential losses for Olympiacos and Panathinaikos in terms of ticket revenue.
Then there’s the impact a cancellation of the season would have on sponsorship deals at both the club level and the league level as it would be expected that those agreements would be prorated based on the games played.
But perhaps the biggest factor on the fate of clubs financially is what a cancellation to the season would mean to the numerous television contracts in place for EuroLeague clubs. As it stands, EuroLeague Basketball receives as much as 20% of each team’s television revenue and a cancellation would take a serious chunk out of the revenue. It’s perhaps the most important factor for Olympiacos and Panathinaikos as well since both Greek clubs have the most lucrative television deals in the league.
As CSKA Moscow president, Andrey Vatutin, put it in a recent interview with the Russian press, the EuroLeague faces “an unprecedented situation” and one that “forces many moves.”
