Optimism in the sporting sector regarding the Government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has shrunk by 13 per cent since June.
Despite the perceived lack of clarity regarding sporting events, ONSIDE's Covid-19 Sports Impact Monitor shows that almost half of those surveyed believe major sporting events will be permitted to go ahead with reduced crowd sizes for the remainder of the year.
46 per cent of members of the Sport for Business community think crowd capacities of up to 25 per cent could be allowed for the remained of 2020.
Going into 2021, the 70 per cent of those surveyed feel crowds at sporting events could be increased to between 26 and 50 per cent capacity, with 24 per cent expecting crowds of up to 75 per cent of the venue’s capacity.
Later today, the Government is due to announce their Living with Covid-19 which is expected to contain guidelines regarding sporting events.
Currently, crowds are not permitted at sporting events after the decision was taken by the Government to stop allowing limited crowds at games when daily cases of the virus began to increase.
In terms of sponsorship, this year has been hard on the finances, with 17 per cent of sponsors claiming they are considering stepping back from their current deals, while 8 per cent say they already have dropped deals.
However, another 17 per cent said that they have signed new sponsorship deals since the onset of the pandemic, despite the challenges faced in the sector.
The majority of those surveyed, representing seven out of 10 people, felt the sporting sector would recover well over the next one to two years.
