The coronavirus pandemic has affected the sports industry throughout the world and India is no exception as the sports jobs in the country has gone down by a considerable margin according to Job listing site Indeed.

According to Data Released by Indeed and published by TOI, the sports jobs in the country has gone down considerably and job searches related to sports have gone up – which clearly shows the sports jobs market has got dented a lot primarily due to cancellation of sporting events.

In August 2020, sports job-related searches have gone up by 11% in comparison to August 2019. However, postings for these positions declined by 25%.

The job searches related to sports have fallen by 20% since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (March to August 2020) and posting for these roles went down by 29%.

Notably, Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu are some of the most affected states in this matter as they make up 80% of total jobs.

Why is the sports industry in bad shape?

To safeguard the health of athletes and others involved, most major sporting events at international, regional and national levels have been cancelled or postponed due to which revenue streams are drying up.

To put things into perspective, the last such shut down happened during World War II when all major sporting events across the globe including the Olympics in 1940 & 1944 were cancelled.

Even, Indian Premier League (IPL), which is one of the most keenly awaited events in India, felt the heat of coronavirus as it was first postponed and then shifted out of the country to UAE which resulted in loss of IPL jobs in India. Be it the broadcasting, production hirings, groundsmen, stadium officials, event professionals and other related industries all have taken hit.

Not only this, the major local professional leagues in the country also looks to be non-starter this year and that will further result in scarcity of sports jobs and opportunities.

Pro Kabaddi League, Premier Badminton League , United Table Tennis, Pro Wrestling League and various other events stand uncertain at this stage.