The Israeli teams, as in most countries, are held by private landlords who do not benefit from football. They cover most of the expenses from ticket sales, sponsorship payments, broadcast rights and the sale of merchandise, with the difference in budget being supplemented from the private pocket. The same pocket is their main business, the one outside of the game, it’s a neighbor that makes money and makes them wealthy people who can invest in football as well.
Now, following the Corona crisis, the outlook is for a double fall. On the one hand the landlord has to bring a lot more money from the house as there is no income (even if players
A significant cut in wages), and on the other hand, he is also losing his private business. In short, the owner’s investment is going to go down, and big, except for the very wealthy people who have been in soccer for many years and have already invested massive sums of money in it. It is conceivable that in Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv the injury will be smaller than in clubs such as Hapoel Haifa or Bnei Yehuda, also, and perhaps mainly, for the reason that they can make significant amounts of money each season without the owners.
And that’s not all – groups are going bankrupt. Germany announced last week that about a third of the teams in the two senior leagues would go bankrupt following the crisis. In Israel, it is estimated that six teams will not be able to exist if the season does not end (therefore also struggling to end), and even if they continue to operate it will be at a minimal budget.
At the same time, the stronger groups will not only survive but be able to become rich in certain ways. There will be the option of bringing in free, or at a floor price, players who a few weeks ago would have cost a lot of money, just like a person who would make an investment in the stock market when the stock market declines. The pay gap between what the big ones will pay and others will be huge. They will be able to acquire a larger number of players to “save other teams” and then lend them at will and control their fate.
Abramov and Oak. Not sure they will smile at the end of the crisis(Photo: Reuven Schwartz)
“Will the gaps between the teams be bigger? Definitely yes,” says Ohad Cohen of the German players’ agency SPOCS. “There will be two extremes. The big ones, assuming the owners remain, will experience significant injury, but will be fine. Even the small ones who can produce assets themselves in player development or scouting, such as Maccabi Petah Tikva and Ashdod, will survive. Everything else is almost going to be erased. At best, the other teams will weaken professionally and lose relevance. The bad case is bankruptcy. ”
Why should the big ones be hurt less?
“The damage to them will be smaller, because the revenue they are accustomed to produce is high. Maccabi Haifa, which produces about NIS 50 million a year, will drop to 30 – which is fine. Suddenly the money that comes from UEFA is also going to be more significant. Reaching a house will equal half the annual income. Those who come to Europe will accumulate a huge gap. In addition, clubs that have previously invested in youth and scouting will reap the benefits much more. The health systems. ”
An interesting case would be the Betar Jerusalem, as it will be possible to see how healthy its system is after years that it clearly has not been. A healthy system is not expressed in the results on the field but in the casing that is in the club – professional, managerial, marketing and more – and it will also affect Significant about widening the gap between major and minor.
celebrant. A healthy system(Photo: Oz Moalem)
Large, orderly groups have far more workers than the smaller ones. Not only specialized trainers but, for example, medical analysts, whose job is to decipher the information that comes from the various data systems, psychologists, nutritionists, farm personnel and management. In recent weeks, with cuts being made, you can see how these people are treated differently than the players. In most places the employees went to the USSR, some were laid off. In the large mantle groups there is something rooted there for years, and it is clear that on the day that football will return all those employees will also return. In the small clubs, however, anyone who is not a coach or player is considered a luxury, Something that previously worked out without him – some of those office-holders will not be returned to work, at least not in the first phase.
In large groups, even in Israel, there are people today whose job it is to keep track of what is happening in the industry with a view to extracting benefits for the club from the situation as well. Many European players’ contracts have been allowed and they can be brought for free. Groups that are on the verge of bankruptcy must sell players at all costs to survive, and others can take advantage of them. Football will come back sometime, it’s clear, but the gaps between teams can be greater than ever.
