Ethiopian marathoner Lelisa Desisa (r) with manager Hussein Makke (© Victah Sailer/AIMS)
With Covid-19 forcing the traditional sporting world to grind to a near halt, we take a look at how the sport’s managers and agents have been coping during the global pandemic.
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It is not just the athletes, coaches and administrators who have had to deal with the fallout from the severely limited international competition schedule caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Managers, those who are instrumental in helping to navigate athletes’ careers, have also found themselves significantly shorn of one of their main income sources.
Pandemic wipes out 40% of revenues
Daniel Wessfeldt, CEO of JRS Sports Management, the firm that manages world high jump champion Mutaz Barshim, pole vault world record-holder Armand Duplantis and European 1500m and 5000m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, has been there, seen it, and got the t-shirt in more than 30 years as an athletics manager.
But with 40% of his income stream gone because of the lack of events, the Swedish-based manager has been forced to adapt and has become focused on satisfying his athletes’ sponsors, who provide the remaining 60% of the company’s annual revenue.
“We have had to do things in different way to still please the sponsors,” he explains. “We have been very proactive to keep in contact with the sponsors and reflect how the athletes’ life looks by doing lots on social media. We’ve also still been able to shoot commercials and meet advertising needs.”
As a 'boutique' management company with little overhead, Wessfeldt is confident he can ride out the storm of the pandemic but fears others may struggle to cope with the financial losses.
Paul Doyle of the US-based Doyle Management broadly agrees with Wessfeldt in terms of his main income streams split 60-40 between commercial activity and events-based revenue.
Manager to top names such as world champions Nia Ali and Sam Kendricks and Olympic shot put champion Ryan Crouser, Doyle admits the pandemic has brought about financial losses.
“As about 40% of our income is from competition it makes sense we are going to have a 40% impact on gross revenue for the year which has more of an impact on our net revenue because the salaries of staff are constant,” he explains.
Cuts in shoe company contracts expected
Doyle also points to the fact shoe contracts are pivotal to an athlete’s annual income and with many up for re-negotiation at the end of the year, some key conversations remain.
“We currently have 35 athletes under our management with shoe contracts, but as from 1 January we only have eight. This is because many contracts run in Olympic cycles,” he explains.
“We assume that at some point in 2021 we will have more than eight because there is no way these top athletes cannot be signed by the shoe companies. But what might be a US$300,000 contract may now be a $150,000 contract or less. We all hope the shoe companies rebound back. I’m cautiously optimistic.”
Another Swedish-based athletics manager, Kadri Kallas of Kallas Management, works with a team of about 20 athletes led by 2015 world heptathlon bronze medallist Laura Ikauniece, 2017 European indoor high jump champion Airine Palsyte and top Latvian javelin thrower Madara Palameika.
With a big focus of company revenue tilted towards sponsorship, Kallas admits she and the athletes she represents could have been hit harder.
“I’ve been quite lucky that all the marketing agreements have been honoured and since this is the bigger income than the competitions, it has not been too bad," she says. "It is hard to say exact numbers for revenue and income losses as every year as a manager is different. It could be 30% down but compared with a really great year, it might be 70% down.”
Kallas, who is currently on maternity leave, admits the impact of Covid-19 has differed from athlete to athlete. For those athletes in great form towards the end of their careers, the postponement of the Olympic Games has caused great stress and anxiety, she says. For others nursing injury issues, having the extra year to prepare has been a blessing.
Nonetheless, the extra time has given Kallas the opportunity to explore a new project to keep the income stream flowing – mindset coaching.
“It’s based a lot on my experience as a manger but is it aimed at a wider audience than for athletes,” she says. “I have a plan to also include my current clients, so they can share their inspirational stories in the course. It will have added value financially to them too.”
Long-term impact on athletes
US-based manager Hussein Makke has about 120 athletes on his roster, led by Ethiopian distance running stars world marathon champion Lelisa Desisa, world 5000m silver medallist Selemon Barega and world indoor 1500m champion Samuel Tefera. Makke says that with competition largely at a standstill, the long-term impact might not be felt until 2021.
Opting to keep all of his employees on the payroll to maintain salaries and support their families during these unprecedented times has not been easy for a company looking at “tremendous losses” for the year.
However, Makke is also concerned with the long-term well-being of athletes.
“Some of the athletes may not be able to return to athletics and will have to look for other opportunities to make a living,” he explains. “The athletes who continue will need to accept a new reality and perform for less money. It will be challenging for the industry to find resources to continue track and field and road races in the way that we have known in the past.”
South African-based manager Lee-Roy Newton, who has 2017 world long jump champion Luvo Manyonga and 19.69 200m sprinter Clarence Munyai on his roster, has used the Covid pandemic as an opportunity to offer greater support to his athletes.
“We utilised Zoom, Google hangouts and WhatsApp video as platforms, which we never did extensively before,” he explains. “We discussed matters relating to mental health and access to our in-house psychologist at the agency.
“We have also started a podcast called ‘Behind the Dream’. The content focuses on the behind-the-scenes look into the professional athletes' lives and tackles tough issues such as mental health and transitioning out of sport.”
Adopting a positive attitude
For Norman Peart, former manager to Usain Bolt who now guides European 100m champion Zharnel Hughes, world triple jump silver medallist Shanieka Ricketts and 2017 400m hurdles Diamond League winner Kyron McMaster, the cancellation of events in 2020 has cost his company a “heartbreaking” amount of money.
However, adopting a typically positive attitude, he has encouraged his athletes to make the most of their time away from the white-hot furnace of traditional competition.
“I encourage them to use the time to work on their personal development, public speaking, social media and bond with the family. Even to work on some DIY around the home which might need attention,” he adds with a laugh.
Long-standing Italian manager Chiara Davini represents a range of prominent athletes from different nations including Israel’s European 10,000m champion Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, Norway’s 2:05 marathoner Sondre Nordstad Moen, and Olympic high jump silver medallist Mirela Demireva, and has worked tirelessly in support of them throughout the pandemic.
“I had to re-organise my activity, putting the athletes’ mental health first,” she says of the early days of the pandemic. “Working with athletes in different hemispheres, I had to gather information about new rules and regulations in their respective countries, identify ‘fake news’, and identify the most relevant information so I could focus on and streamline communication between both athletes and coaches.”
Davini conducted a webinar with journalists and a social media manager to improve their communication skills and helped address any training issues. With Italian athletes unable to train at tracks because of the restrictions during the early stages of the pandemic, Davini called Mondo – the track suppliers – and got the company to send sections of track to aid athletes training during lockdown. Among the recipients were 2017 European U23 400m hurdles champion Ayomide Folorunso, Italian 400m record-holder Davide Re and 2.02m high jumper Elena Vallortigara.
The world’s athletics managers are naturally keen for competition to resume as soon as it is safe. Wessfeldt says it is important that competition re-starts from August through to October with the re-scheduled Diamond League programme.
“It will be good to show the shoe companies we have done everything possible to re-start competition,” he says. “While it is also important for athletes to register some statistics for the season and that 2020 is not just blank results-wise.”
Doyle fears that if the sport were to take a complete year off, it would “lose its relevance” but he is confident a raft of local meets will take place, which will go some way to meeting the competitive desires of the athletes.
“I expect we’ll see many regional-style events and I expect we’ll see a bunch pop up in the US,” explains Doyle. “Some athletes with injuries are thanking their good graces that the Olympics are postponed but we have about 50 athletes on our roster and 45 of them are raring to go and ready to compete.”
The times have been challenging for the world’s managers with potentially tougher times down the track, but many remain confident they can navigate a route through troubled waters to better times.
“Hopefully, we will use the crisis to rebuild where it is needed, and produce something better,” says Davini. “There is always the possibility that we may slide into something worse, but I’m hopeful that will not happen with our sport.
“I’ve learned that there is never a perfect outcome to times like these, however with patience and careful thought, proactive planning, and action we can all overcome our worst nightmares.”
Peart admits to having concerns about the 2021 season and whether the re-scheduled Olympic Games will go ahead, but says: “I am positive we will overcome this.”
Steve Landells for World Athletics
