2020年经济学人 疫情对体育比赛的影响(1)（在线收听）

Leaders

来源于《社论》版块

Professional sports

职业运动

The game's the thing

体育比赛很重要

Cancelling sport will dent morale. A solution may be needed

取消比赛会影响士气。可能需要一个解决方案

Most fans of professional sports have some kind of ritual associated with watching a game. Perhaps they wear their team's shirt, scarf or hat to show their allegiance and bring their team luck. They may organise a “tailgate” party in the stadium car park, or head to a nearby bar to be with friends. For many, the match is the highlight of the week. And their emotions will rise and fall with the fortunes of their team. So the sudden cancellation of sporting events because of the coronavirus outbreak has come as a great disappointment.

大多数职业体育爱好者都有某种与观看比赛相关的仪式。也许他们会穿上自己球队的球衣、围巾或帽子以示忠诚，为球队带来好运。他们可能会在体育场停车场组织一个“球迷场外野餐会”，或者去附近的酒吧和朋友聚会。对许多人来说，比赛是一周中最精彩的部分。他们会随着喜欢队伍的兴衰而情绪起伏。因此，由于冠状病毒爆发而突然取消体育赛事，令人非常失望。

Almost all the most prestigious events have been postponed: top-flight football matches, professional basketball and its “March madness" college equivalent, Major League Baseball, professional ice hockey, the Masters golf, the French Open tennis and Formula 1 car-racing. The Euro 2020 football championship has been put off until 2021. The prospects for the Tokyo Olympics in July and August are doubtful.

几乎所有最负盛名的赛事都被推迟了：顶级足球比赛、职业篮球和相当于大学“疯狂三月”的运动、美国职业棒球大联盟、职业冰球、美国高尔夫名人赛、法国网球公开赛和一级方程式赛车。2020年欧洲足球锦标赛被推迟到2021年。7月和8月东京奥运会能否如期举行堪忧。

The economic implications will be significant. Sport is a big business. As well as attending games, American fans buy around $15bn of sports merchandise annually. Globally, many fans pay to subscribe to a sports channel to watch games: the global audience for English Premier League football was 3.2bn people last season in 188 countries. The TV rights for Premier League matches are worth ￡3.1bn ($3.6bn) a season. Loyal viewers mean companies like to associate themselves with teams; global sports sponsorship was estimated to be worth $55bn in 2018. Up to $150bn is wagered illegally on sports every year in the United States and more than 50% of Americans have placed a sports bet

at some point.

这将对经济产生重大影响。体育是一个大产业。除了观看比赛，美国球迷每年还购买约150亿美元的体育商品。在全球范围内，许多球迷付费订阅体育频道观看比赛：上个赛季，英超联赛在188个国家的全球观众达到32亿人。英超联赛的电视转播权每赛季价值31亿英镑(合36亿美元)。忠实的观众意味着公司喜欢把自己与团队联系起来；据估计，2018年全球体育赞助价值550亿美元。在美国，每年有高达1500亿美元的非法体育博彩，超50%的美国人某一时刻会下体育赌注。