Bundesliga could lose around €1 billion if season is played behind closed doors, asserts Christian Seifert
German Football League chief Christian Seifert has admitted that the Bundesliga could see a drop in turnover of almost €1 billion if the 2020/21 season is finished closed doors. German football started their season with fans but things changed once the second wave of the COVID-19 virus hit Germany.
While the Premier League has only just re-opened their doors to fans, Germany was forced to lock theirs down with the second wave of the Coronavirus hitting the country. It saw their final games with fans played in October after which stadiums were closed with that applying to all professional sports. However, while the financial effects of the Coronavirus pandemic have been felt across the world, Germany has only released their figures now.
In a recent interview, Christian Seifert admitted that the overall loss for the 2019/20 season was about €650 million as compared to the previous season. The DFB chief further added that the 2020/21 season could hit €1 billion with the total tally – between March 2020 and the summer of 2022 – hitting around €2 billion.
"Last season was a mild breeze at best, but now the storm is coming. This season we must expect an almost total loss of spectator revenues. The overall loss of fans for the entire season will be about €650m compared to 2018-19. And a total turnover loss of €1bn or about 20% for the 2020/21 season,” Seifert said, reported ESPN.