The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to have a long-lasting effect on the sports industry, according to a new survey. As per the study, by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has projected that growth in the sector will fall by over 50% in the next three-to-five years.

However, not all will be bad predicts the survey. E-Sport industry, Football/Soccer, and Basketball have been projected as three potential sports to have growth revenues. Meanwhile, 86% of leaders also believe that in the post-covid era live sports viewing will become significantly richer, immersive and interactive.

“In general, our study shows that the prevailing pessimism is cut by the many opportunities brought about by the crisis,” said David Dellea, head of PwC’s sports business advisory.

He went on: “This situation may favour the emergence of changes that have long been considered but never achieved to their full extent, whether it be hybrid sports, new revenue streams, drastic governance reforms or enhanced collaborative models.”

Hybrid formats will have their place, but there is scepticism about their long-term income-generating potential.

For what it is worth, two tentative conclusions which the study reached during this eerie and humbling year of a plague that has now claimed over a million lives worldwide are:

a) Given the apparent link between physical fitness and improved survival prospects, sport for most will be a little more about doing and a little less about watching for the foreseeable future; and

b) while the very top footballers, basketball/tennis players and boxers will remain among the best-paid individuals on the planet, the number of fully professional athletes will shrink quite markedly.