Euros, Copa America postponed

Copa America, South America’s National Team tournament will move from summer 2020 to 2021.

Europe’s governing body UEFA also announced EURO 2020 shifts to Summer 2021 and Women’s EURO 2021 will occur summer 2022.

The move is said to allow domestic leagues across the continent which have been out on hold to finish their leagues as well as the Champions League and Europa League competitions.

Friendlies at international level have been moved to June of 2020.

According to leading data and analytical company GlobalData’s Sportcal Intelligence Centre, there were $148m of sponsorship commitments for the tournament, including the likes of Heineken and Coca-Cola – which spent a respective $45m and $35m. It is likely that the UEFA will simply roll these agreements over to next summer when the tournament is likely to be played.

“However, for broadcasters, the impact is likely to be much more profound. With the likes of the BBC and ITV having paid over $200m for broadcast rights in the UK and ZDF and ARD having committed over $160m in Germany, the situation is unique. Many broadcasters will have committed funds for sports rights and the creation of schedules around the tournament, so the impact of this decision will be profoundly felt.

“For commercial broadcasters who use major international sporting events as a means of driving advertising revenue, they will be hoping that those advertising budgets are simply rolled over into next year as opposed to brands looking to claw back that marketing spend.”

With many brands facing an uncertain time over the next 12 months due to the wider economic impact of COVID-19, it remains to be seen whether that planned advertising spend will need to be deployed elsewhere in the meantime, leading to a severe economic impact for many broadcasters.”