Paris (AFP)

"Prepare for impact"! Weakened by the Covid-19 crisis, many companies risk reducing their investments in sponsorship, a backlash that the sports world fears, and whose effects should be felt in several months.

So far, the external signals have been weak. But the worry is there. "Necessarily this crisis will have effects. But nobody wants to talk about it. The impact will be there but nobody can measure it. We must not delude ourselves, it will happen, there is no doubt," says Bruno Bianzina, director of the Sport Market agency, specialized in sports sponsorship.

Thus the threat of destabilization of a sector where, according to Magali Tézenas du Montcel, general delegate of Sporsora, "sponsorship represents between 20% and 50% of the economic model", is very real.

The first, and probably the most visible actor, to have taken the blow seems to be the skipper François Gabart, released by his historical partner Macif in early June after three months of confinement. The group decided to leave the Ultim circuit and end ten years of collaboration with the browser, "a very difficult moment" that the latter had not seen coming. The insurer did try not to link its decision to the Covid-19 crisis, but doubt remains.

- "Remove their marbles" -

"This is a fairly striking example, which illustrates the context well," said Magali Tézenas du Montcel. "In these periods of crisis, the first budget lines to jump are those of communication and sponsorship," she explains.

The dreaded cycle is simple: less money for companies that pay to have their name associated with a club or an event, precipitates a drop in investment in the various sports partnerships, affecting pell-mell clubs, federations, associations or even sportsmen themselves.

Not all economic sectors will be affected the same, and some will fare better than others. "But the automobile, transport and tourism are likely to withdraw their marbles," predicts Philippe Bailly, founder of Sport Index, specialist in the attraction of disciplines. "Some great collective sports such as football or rugby seem more preserved," he said.

At the beginning of April, according to a study by Union Sport et Cycle conducted among 900 companies, 60% of the companies which support a sports club expressed their doubts as to their ability to "maintain this support at the start of the school year". A chilliness that will hit harder a priori amateur sport. So far, a few companies have stopped their assistance program for top athletes, such as Point P or Airbus, according to several sources, which concerns around twenty athletes. But overall, "the big brands have renewed their support for the sports world", reports Magali de Tézenas du Montcel. This is only true in the short term.

- Decreasing ambitions for Paris-2024 -

"We have a hard time knowing what will happen. It may be complicated for everyone. We are counting on a scenario close to that which followed the subprime crisis in 2008, where the fall in sponsorship had been around 30% ", predicts the general delegate of Sporsora.

"The effect will be shifted over time, and the impact will be felt early next year," warns Bruno Bianzina. A distortion over time due to primarily mechanical effects. "What limits the impact is that partnerships are often multi-year. It is hard to disengage now", explains Magali Tézenas du Montcel.

"But whatever the company, when we have the impression that everyone is going to take it out in the head, well we remain cautious", assures Philippe Bailly.

"Clearly, the contracts are being renegotiated downward at the moment, but you won't know," he adds. And a priori, whatever the size of the event ...

Because if many believe that the prospect of the Olympic Games in Paris-2024 can help maintain the level of commitment of sponsors, the Covid-19 crisis has considerably limited the initial ambitions of the Paris Games. If not many people imagine that Paris-2024 will not complete its sponsorship budget of 1.1 billion euros, this option initially qualified as "prudent" is now "realistic", we are assured in the Olympian microcosm .

"All the momentum that was to take place thanks to the Olympic Games is not there for the moment, observes Bruno Bianzina. And Paris-2024 which was to be the locomotive is not yet."

© 2020 AFP