{"id":17073,"date":"2020-04-09T19:52:39","date_gmt":"2020-04-10T00:52:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rsslex.com\/publications\/impact-of-covid-19-sports-entertainment-and-insurance\/"},"modified":"2022-01-14T18:19:38","modified_gmt":"2022-01-14T23:19:38","slug":"20200409_impact-of-covid-19-sports-entertainment-and-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rsslex.com\/en\/bulletins-en\/20200409_impact-of-covid-19-sports-entertainment-and-insurance\/","title":{"rendered":"Impact of COVID-19: Sports, Entertainment (and Insurance?!?)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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For the first time since World War II, Wimbledon, one of Great Britain\u2019s most storied summer sporting events, has been cancelled. The announcement from the All England Club came on April 1, 2020 amidst concerns for public health and safety stemming from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Scheduled to run from June 29 to July 12, the oldest tennis tournament in the world now becomes part of a growing list of sporting and entertainment events around the globe forced to cancel or reschedule due to the coronavirus outbreak. Unlike one-day sporting events, Wimbledon functions more like a festival for which nearly two months of pre-event preparation are required. Citing government mandated lockdowns and social distancing guidelines, the Board of the All England Club and the Committee of Management of the Championships made the difficult decision to cancel the event rather than attempt to reschedule later this summer.<\/p>\n

Decisions to cancel major sporting and entertainment events will undoubtedly have wide-reaching effects and consequences, creating complex challenges pertaining to, amongst other things, contractual relationships with venues, suppliers, sponsors and broadcasting partners, financing agreements, as well as labour relations with employees and unions.<\/p>\n

A Substantial Economic Impact<\/h1>\n

Although the decision to cancel Wimbledon may seem to be just one of many similar announcements to be expected over the coming months, it is of particular interest to insureds and insurers alike. British daily national newspaper The Times recently reported that the All England Club is set to receive around \u00a3114 million ($198 million) from its insurance policy, more specifically an infectious or communicable diseases and pandemic clause that was added to their policy several years ago. Reports suggest that following the SARS outbreak in 2002, the Club\u2019s risk and finance subcommittee updated its Wimbledon policy to include the latter. Wimbledon appears to be the only one of tennis\u2019s grand slams (Australian Open, French Open and US Open) to have obtained such additional coverage.<\/p>\n

Days after the Wimbledon announcement, the R&A followed suit by announcing that the British Open, one of golf\u2019s premier major events scheduled to be held from July 12 to 19, was also cancelled. Part of the decision to cancel instead of rescheduling like other golf events including the Masters and PGA Championship had to do with insurance considerations. Because of the language contained within their policy, R&A reportedly had to cancel the event before a certain date in order to trigger coverage and collect on its policy.<\/p>\n

Foreseeable Changes in the Insurance Market<\/h1>\n

With many insurers set to face questions regarding coverage in the coming months, particular attention will be given to the wording of each policy\u2019s force majeure clause. While some force majeure clauses may specifically address the issue of a \u201cpandemic\u201d or \u201coutbreak\u201d, the COVID-19 crisis may fall under other categories of the policy. Policy provisions are likely to be scrutinized including but not limited to clauses pertaining to:<\/p>\n