An empty field of

2020 is shaping up to be the lost year of sport as Covid-19 wreaks havoc on the industry. Dana Johannsen looks at who’s going to count the sporting cost of the turmoil caused by the pandemic.

Phoenix, who as of this week are also basing themselves in Australia to ensure their A-League season can continue, are able to limp on for now behind closed doors, other teams have been sidelined with several major sports forced to suspend or cancel their seasons.

Super Rugby has been placed on hiatus for at least two weeks, NZ Cricket cut its domestic seasons short along with the Black Caps tour to Australia, Netball NZ has suspended the ANZ Premiership until early April, while the start of Basketball’s

NBL season will be delayed until May. Elsewhere, other major events have been cancelled or postponed, including the Piha Pro, which was to be the first World Surf League event in New Zealand, the Auckland round of the V8 Supercars, the national swimming championships, and all tennis competitions.

The ramifications of cancelling or suspending seasons are far-reaching. There’s not only the nuts and bolts considerations about rescheduling fixtures and maintaining the integrity of the competition, but the serious financial consequences for athletes, franchises, leagues and the national sporting organisations that run them.

In a crumbling economy, there will likely be little room for sympathy for star athletes being forced to take pay-cuts, and sports leagues, in some cases enriched by broadcasting deals that reach into the hundreds of millions, suddenly doing it tough.

But that outward-facing product props up a small industry behind it.

Shane Harmon, chief executive of Wellington’s Sky Stadium, says as a mass event business, sport’s big shutdown has had a devastating impact on the stadium industry and its service providers.