Emotions, economics and the future of sport

The last 12 months have been a landmark year for sport in Yorkshire. Whether it was Leeds United ending a 16 year wait and returning to the Premier League, or Yorkshire County Cricket Club posting record profits after a fantastic summer in 2019 with an Ashes test, four World Cup fixtures and a One Day International versus Pakistan.

But these successes on and off the pitch have been marred – as with all avenues of life – by the Coronavirus pandemic.

So how have the businesses behind sports responded? That was the question posed to TheBusinessDesk.com’s expert panel at its webinar in partnership with Front Row Legal.

Victor Orta, director of football , Leeds United

Victor Orta, director of football at the newly promoted Leeds United started the session by highlighting that Covid-19 had provided a “strong punch of reality” and made clubs remember that really they ” are mundane businesses”.

He emphasised that the pandemic had impacted the economics of clubs, stating that LUFC has analysed it and income is down roughly 25%, but that it’s important to remember it’s also had an emotional impact.

He explained: “We need fans they are the core of this sport. One of the things important in the sport obviously is the business but we need to remember that sport is about feeling for a lot of people.”

Dr Ingrid Griffiths, head of sport management. Carnegie School of Sport

It was a sentiment shared by other panellists, with Dr Ingrid Griffiths the head of sport management at Carnegie School of Sport stating: “One of the things that it [the pandemic] certainly brought to the fore is how incredibly embedded sport is in everybody’s lives. Whether that is just a passing or recreational aspect or whether you have a business built upon the back of sport, [Covid-19 has} highlighted the vulnerability.”

Griffiths however said that it was a double-edged sword as, the pandemic also emphasised the enhancement sport can bring to people’s lives and wellbeing.

Richard Crammer, managing partner at Front Row Legal picked up on the vulnerability angle.

“I do worry for lots of football clubs and rugby clubs” he said.

Richard Cramer, managing partner, Front Row Legal

“But what I think certainly from a Leeds and Yorkshire perspective, is that what we’ve missed out on this year and particularly over the last few months, is the real impact on the region of the club’s return to the Premier League.

“The atmosphere in the city and the region [that having top flight sport brings]. You’re going to see fans coming in even if they don’t go to a game, for the experience. They might go to a horse racing meeting, a cricket match or a rugby league match. It will be absolutely buzzing and I have a great sense of optimism [for the future]”

Gerry Sutcliffe, former minister for sport and tourism and the current chair of both the National Racing College Doncaster and Keighley Cougars foundation

Former minister for sport and tourism Gerry Sutcliffe, who is currently the chair of both the National Racing College Doncaster and Keighley Cougars foundation, added that it’s not just Leeds which is missing out on the benefits of sporting success, Harrogate Town has been promoted into the Football League for the first time ever, meaning the town should be and could be buzzing.

Sutcliffe added that it’s not just the clubs the pandemic has impacted emphasising the wider supply chain. He cited the horse racing industry as an example, explaining it brings £300m into the Yorkshire economy through the nine race courses in the region as well as the ancillary services that visitors use.

Mark Arthur,chief executive, Yorkshire County Cricket Club Credit: SWpix

Mark Arthur, chief executive of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, which at the start of the pandemic had to arrange for players to return to the UK from a tour of India, echoed Crammer’s positive outlook.

He explained that he believes once a vaccine is widely available there’ll be a surge of interest for all events and all sports, as people will want to get out of their homes, interact with fellow human beings and make up for lost time.

However, the story of Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s response to the pandemic also demonstrates the opportunities which have arisen.

Arthur explained despite the difficulties brought about by Covid-19 which saw the club furlough staff and embark on a cost cutting exercise, he says the club “came out of it quite well”. He attributes this to keeping the organisation lean – citing it has 49 staff while it’s red rose rivals over the Pennines have over 300; and the fact that “going against the grain of Yorkshire folk being tight” 85% of its members donated their membership fee to the club when it offered them refunds – compared with 70% in Nottinghamshire and 60% in Warwickshire.

He also added that being able to get cricket back up and running behind closed doors helped and that it opened up a new opportunity for them in streaming. Although he stated that despite supporting the ECB he felt the Government were unrealistic in not allowing fans to return to championship cricket.

Explaining: “We had an 18,500 seater stadium, and for championship cricket you normally only get 2,000 people. Even somebody like me can socially distance people with that capacity.”

Griffiths added that the streaming opportunities could be beneficial to clubs moving forward. She said: “I think, developing the direct to consumer pathways in relation to the sort of [fan] connectivity, does give an element of autonomy and perhaps empowerment to those club’s franchisees etc to give a little bit more back in terms of getting revenue streams back up and running.”

She added that even though streaming could be seen as a challenge to traditional TV revenue, she believes it will create “leverage going forward” and also show clubs how to “maximise opportunities around sort of the digitalization of fan engagement.”

Jon Dutton CEO, Rugby League World Cup

The challenges faced by clubs are equally shared by the governing bodies and tournament organisers. Jon Dutton the chief executive of the Rugby League Wold Cup 2021 which will be the biggest sporting event exclusively staged in England next year said: “The challenge for us is to manage uncertainty. We very much hope that on the 5th November 2021 we’ll be gathering at Headingley to Watch New Zealand play a game against Ireland, but managing uncertainty is pretty hard.”

Despite all the challenges thrown by 2020, all of the panellists were excited for the future. Griffiths explained: “I’m looking forward to seeing the bounce back ability of sport and how it will be reenergised.”

For others the focus was clearer, Dutton said he was looking forward to delivering the World Cup and as he puts it “spending lots of time in Yorkshire”. While Arthur summed it up as “looking forward to seeing members and supporters back in the ground and being able to interact with them.”

But perhaps Orta stated it best and once again emphasised the importance of emotion to the business of sport, as although positive of the future his biggest fear would be the fans missing out on an opportunity.

He said: “For me the really big disappointment would be if we [Leeds United] were relegated and the fans could not watch a game in the Premier League after a 16 year wait. But I hope this won’t happen and I and other people are working hard to make sure it doesn’t.”

Whatever the next 12 months hold for sport, one thing is certain we all want to be back in the stands, terraces, pavilions and club houses to cheer on our teams and share in the emotion that is ultimately the driving force behind the business of sport.