Friday, November 06, 2020
Loss of millions in income, corona outbreaks in advance: The BBL season start in the middle of the pandemic is like a tightrope act. The state aid only allows the game to run temporarily, sooner or later it will be tight without spectators. The league has a lot to offer in terms of sport.
There is a prospect of money and help – finally good news for Stefan Holz in difficult times. After all the clubs from the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) had applied for the corona emergency aid from the federal government, shortly before the start of the season, six clubs received the approval for a financial injection. “That’s good money, definitely,” says Managing Director Holz: “It gives you courage.”
This Friday evening the BBL starts its 54th season – the most difficult so far, without question. Uncertainties and imponderables prevail, at least until the end of the month no spectators are allowed into the halls, most recently there have been a series of game cancellations in the cup due to corona cases in the teams. Many question marks remain. At least from a financial point of view, the prospects have improved. The bureaucratic process in terms of state aid is proceeding “with great caution”, as Holz emphasizes, “relatively smoothly”. The league boss exercises restraint: “It will be settled at the end.”
Each club can receive up to 800,000 euros from the sports package. “I would guess that ten to twelve million euros will come into the league,” says Holz. Since the audience revenue is normally around 25 million, “50 percent would be reimbursed. You can look at it from below or above – half full or half empty.” And that’s not all. Empty halls not only mean empty pockets because of the tickets, merchandising or local sponsoring are also eliminated.
The final whistle for two games before kick-off
“Ultimately, sales of 40 to 50 million depend on the audience,” says Holz. The one-time payment is important, but not enough. Holz hopes that the measure will be extended beyond December 31. This is “absolutely necessary”. With an “appropriate return of the audience”, the current state funds from the 200 million package and possible additional help, “it could somehow work out,” says the managing director.
But there was also bad news: Two games scheduled for the first matchday had to be canceled after corona cases. The game between the Giessen 46ers and the MBC from Weißenfels turns out just like the match between medi Bayreuth and the Telekom Baskets Bonn. It is not yet clear when the games will be rescheduled.
Regular testing and waiting for the results are part of everyday life at the clubs – and it’s challenging. “We don’t know whether we can play until the match day,” said Steffen Herhold, managing director of newly promoted Niners Chemnitz, the MDR: “Another problem is: In these pandemic times, economic stability is unclear. It’s like driving in the fog 200 kilometers per hour. “
“Jam Damage”
Wood feels anticipation despite all worries. That the pandemic is overshadowing everything is “a shame, we have a great season ahead of us. We just want the ball to fly through the basket again. We just want to talk about sports again.” And it could get interesting in terms of sport.
After the dream year with a cup win and championship title, Alba Berlin is once again one of the title favorites, but has had difficult weeks. There were seven corona cases in the team, because of the quarantine, the double winner could not play for a good three weeks. Since there is a lot of catching up to do, including in the Euroleague, the club are facing challenging weeks.
The team of successful coach Aito Garcia Reneses can be particularly dangerous to Bayern Munich with the new coach Andrea Trinchieri and runner-up MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg. For Marco Baldi, the title race is “more open than ever. And I wouldn’t single out anyone, neither us nor Bayern,” said the Alba managing director.
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