It goes without saying that the coronavirus has rapidly become a major problem worldwide since breaking out in Wuhan, China sometime in 2019, and football is certainly not immune to its impact.
The Bundesliga officially decided on March 13th to suspend play until April 2nd in an attempt to contain the contagion from spreading further. Right now, it has not been fully determined whether the league will continue or officially end, and things will reportedly be discussed further later next week when clubs have a further meeting in Frankfurt. A solution, however, may not be decided at Monday's meeting, with further discussions expected to continue throughout the suspension period.
What's certain, however, is the economic impact on Germany's football system if the 2019/2020 season comes to an abrupt end after matchday 25. Currently, there are 36 teams playing in the Bundesliga and the 2.Bundesliga, and if the season ends prematurely, this means that nine matchdays will go without being contested.
The financial implications of this are staggering, to say the least. According to some reports, the Bundesliga could be set to lose up to €370 million ($407.4 million*) from a loss of TV rights. Over the course of a regular 34-game season, clubs earn a total of €1.4 billion. Now, if one adds in other factors, namely sponsorship revenue and ticket receipts this figure balloons to an eye-popping €750 million ($825.7 million) just over nine matchdays, with sponsorship and ticket sales making up that additional €380 million ($418.3 million) loss.
*all EUR/USD conversion rates as of 18 March 2020
What about if let's say, the games continue without fans and opt to just resume behind closed doors? Still, the league will suffer because again, there will be no gate receipts, and sponsors will also feel the negative impact.
So, simply put, everyone will be hoping that it will be business as usual starting from April 2nd. But naturally, health of players, coaches, and fans comes first. And given the fact that several players in all tiers of German football have already tested positive for COVID-19, it really remains to be seen whether the league opts to cancel the season outright, end it on matchday 25, with Bayern being crowned the Bundesliga champion (and figure out who then gets promoted and relegated) or postpone it for a later conclusion date.
Indeed, there have been some rumblings about possibly having the current campaign end sometime in June, especially now with EURO 2020 being moved to 2021. All that's certain right now is that Bundesliga fans worldwide are anxiously awaiting to see whether they will get the opportunity to see their favorite teams back in action - hopefully sooner rather than later as they hope life returns back to how it was before the coronavirus decided to rear its ugly head and wreak havoc on civilization worldwide.
