Aktif Bank Published the Pre and Post Covid-19 Football Economy Report


The loss of Super League may amount to approximately 1 billion TRY Super League became the league that has taken action the fastest during the course of the pandemic


Aktif Bank, the largest privately-owned investment bank in Turkey, probed the implications of the outbreak, which has affected all the world, on football by the "Pre and Post Covid-19 Football Economy Report".  According to the report, it is projected that the financial loss merely at the 5 major leagues would be 4 billion Euros if the remaining matches in European Continent, where more than 500 hundred competitions were postponed, would not be played, and also that a revenue loss of approximately 1 billion TRY would be suffered in respect of the match day, live broadcasting and commercial revenues if the remaining matches of the Super League would not be played. 


The report, probing into the impact of the course of the Covid-19 pandemic on the European leagues and the Super League, also highlights that the Super League was the league that has taken action the fastest during the course of the pandemic when compared to the 5 major football leagues in Europe.


Another new research has just been broughted by EkoLig, the most comprehensive and the first and the sole football economy reports series of Turkey, which is being shared with the sports community since 2016 by Aktif Bank which provides a substantial contribution to the Turkish sports community in addition to its financing support. By releasing the "Pre and Post Covid-19 Football Economy Report", Aktif Bank, probes into the implications of the pandemic on the football world. The report brings out the following figures and details...


Super League became the fastest to take action in Europe


The report, which probes into the impact of the course of the Covid-19 pandemic on the European leagues and the Super League, shows that Turkey was the country to take the fastest action following the occurrence of the first Covid-19 case, as based on the benchmarking among the UK, Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Turkey.


While the Premier League has taken action 42 days after the occurrence of the first case in the UK, Bundesliga took action after 38 days, followed by La Liga with 41 days, and Ligue 1 with 52 days, and Serie A with 39 days. The football matches were postponed 8 days after the occurrence of the first case with the positive result in our country. Super League became the league taking the fastest action during the course of the pandemic when compared to the 5 major football leagues in Europe.


509 matches were postponed in the major five leagues


The report probes not only into the Turkish football, but also the European football.  509 matches were postponed in the Premier League, the German Bundesliga, the French Ligue 1, the Italian Serie A and the Spanish La Liga, all together known as the five major leagues.  While it is planned that the German league will restart mid-May, it is expected that the other leagues will restart the kick-off within June.


The 5 major leagues in Europe suffer a financial loss of approximately 4 billion Euros


The annual total revenues of the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany and France, the 5 major football leagues of the European football are calculated as approximately 18 billion Euros. With the annual revenue reaching to 6 billion Euros, the UK Premier League ranks the top in this category. While it is estimated that the financial loss of the Premier League would exceed 1 billion Euros if the matches would not be played, it is calculated that the 5 major leagues would suffer a revenue loss of 4 billion Euros in total.


The loss of the Super League may reach approximately to 1 billion TRY in the worst-case scenario


Super League will suffer a significant loss of revenue if the 72 matches postponed would not be played due to the pandemic.  Super League may suffer a revenue loss of approximately 1 billion TRY in respect of the match day, live broadcasting and commercial revenues, if the remaining matches would not be played.


The match day revenues projected for this season exceeds 500 million TRY


It is estimated that the Super League would derive match day revenues between 520 and 550 million TRY at the end of this season after having derived match day revenues of 396.3 million TRY in the 2018-2019 season, and 491.1 million TRY in the 2018-2019 season. A loss of 100 million TRY would be suffered in terms of merely the match day revenues, if the remaining matches in the Super League would be played behind closed doors.


Broadcasting revenues will also be affected


It is planned that the live broadcasting revenues of approximately 2 billion TRY will be distributed to the clubs during this season.  However, the clubs will lose the revenues, amounting to 172.8 million TRY, they will derive only from the sportive performances, in case the matches would not be played. (Such figure of 172.8 million TRY excludes the league attendance share, bonuses paid to the previous championship winners, and the bonuses payable for the top 6 teams.)


Radical changes waiting ahead


It is expected that Covid-19, which has also severely affected the football, will bring along managerial changes, too. The funds allocated by the supreme organizations managing the football, the wage reduction for the football players and the technical staff on the basis of the clubs, and the review of the terms of the contracts with the broadcaster(s) just appear as the short-term solutions. In the light of the new decisions to be made under the leadership of the FIFA and UEFA, inevitable changes are expected to be experienced also in respect of the financial and managerial activities of the actors involved in the football industry, in the long run.