Corona crisis in indoor sports: The clock is ticking

Jens Staudenmeyer, the commercial and sporting director of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), is hoping for better times after the COVID-19 crisis. Last Thursday, Chancellor Angela Merkel confirmed that major sporting events will not return with spectators until the end of October at least, due to the renewed rise in the number of infections.

Until then, a working group of the country's states is to present a uniform proposal for dealing with the issue. "Actually, this working group is not needed," Uwe Schwenker, President of the Handball Bundesliga (HBL), told DW. Hygiene and operational concepts are not only on the table for soccer, but also for indoor sports. "We have done our homework."

Concepts for 50 percent capacity

Those responsible for the three major German professional leagues outside of soccer — handball, basketball and ice hockey — have drawn up joint guidelines on how to facilitate games with spectators. "Our concept is based on a viewer utilization rate of 20 to 50 percent, depending on the infection situation on site," says Schwenker.

The sporting director of the basketball league, Staudenmeyer, considers "a capacity utilization of 40 to 50 percent to be feasible," depending on the arena. He says that the access plays a role here, as does the way the hall is ventilated. But one thing is certain, says Staudenmeyer: "We are clearly assuming that spectator events will be held with mouth-and-nose protection."

Also from the ranks of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) it is pointed out that the concepts are anything but frivolous with the health of the spectators.  "We are ready to make our contribution. Time is pressing. We have concepts that, in our opinion, work well through all the specifications of infection protection," says Philipp Walter, Managing Director of the Kölner Haie. "It must be clear to politicians that solutions are needed now, otherwise it will be more than tight for all sports - not only ice hockey".

Indoor experience counts for more

In contrast to soccer, the income from TV revenue in indoor sports is so low that it hardly plays a role in the budgets of the clubs. The clubs in the Handball Bundesliga, for example, are financed 72 percent by sponsorship money and 25 percent by spectator income. The situation is similar in basketball. "Sponsorship is mostly regional," says Jens Staudenmeyer from the BBL. "That means the indoor experience is more relevant, not so much the audience rating." In other words, if the spectators are missing, the event becomes uninteresting for local sponsors.

The BBL season is scheduled to start on November 6, the DEL on November 13. So for the clubs in these two leagues, there is still hope that the states will agree on a uniform concept for sporting events with spectators by the time the action is set to begin.

Solidarity

Walter asks people not to lose sight of the possibilities of sport, even in the COVID-19 crisis. "Sport creates identity, connects people, has a social, integrative and inclusive mission. Top-class sport radiates into up-and-coming and popular sports and trains role models for our children," he says. "Politicians also say all this when they value sport. Now is the time to prove that this is also meant seriously".

But the clock is ticking. Despite the precarious situation, Schwenker does not see the future of indoor sports as bleak. "We are still optimistic that we will get through the crisis," says Schwenker, who also praises the solidarity across sporting disciplines. "Everyone realized that we were in the same boat and that we could only survive together."