Could F1 take lessons from the Bundesliga's return?

With the Olympics and the European football championships both being postponed until 2021, Formula 1 is set to become the first truly global sporting competition to get back in action with the Austrian Grand Prix set for 5 July.

But F1 will not be the first high-profile series to get going again, with some national football leagues having already resumed, albeit under the very different circumstances of the 'new normal'.

While F1 has had some unique challenges to overcome to return - primarily because of its global nature with teams and staff scattered around Europe - many of the issues it has faced are remarkably similar to those football has already encountered.

That was why it was fascinating to hear last week from Christian Seifert, the CEO of the Deutsche Fußball Liga, during a presentation at the FIA eConference 2020 about the key factors that surrounded the Bundesliga's comeback and the parallels that apply to F1.

By looking at both, it is clear that common issues have had to be overcome for action to return, and the lessons the Bundesliga has learned can give F1 valuable insight about what to expect next week.

The survival of teams has been at stake

When sport stopped as the world went into lockdown, it was a huge disappointment for fans. It was obvious that the first thoughts of sporting organisations was of the need to get going again to keep spectators happy.

"Personally I was very convinced from the beginning that we had to fight to come back because in Germany right now around 200,000 people were tested positive," said Seifert. "But like in every country, around 80 million people had this virus in their thoughts.

"I was very convinced that it would make sense to come back, to bring something else to the table for people on TV to talk about, to chat with friends about and have some kind of distraction from the situation."

But, for both football and F1, the suspension of events was not just a matter of losing out on entertainment - thousands of jobs were put on the line too. That's why the Bundesliga pursued the same direct intervention policy that F1 and the FIA employed amid fears that teams would go out business.

"When we shut down the league on 13th March, on the night of the 15th, I defined things at home because, as Ross [Brawn] knows, there were times of not so much sleep because you have a lot of stuff in your head" Christian Seifert

"We had no choice other than to think very hard how we can come back," added Seifert, whose role oversees 36 clubs in both men's and women's football.

"When we interrupted the league in the middle of March, we knew that within six to eight weeks, one third of these clubs would have come in massive economic trouble. Overall, the Bundesliga creates in Germany 56,000 jobs, and that's worth fighting for.

"Plus, also from the structure of our sport, we had the chance to come back because less than 50% of the turnover of the clubs on average is ticket sales. Around 60% is combined TV and sponsorship revenue.

"Coming back on the screen on one hand addresses the source of TV revenue, but on the other hand, it delivers value for the sponsors who had already paid."

The bosses needed to be trusted

At times of crisis, strong leadership is needed. So just as the FIA handed president Jean Todt extra powers to take some decisions without the normal requirements for unanimous support from teams, so too the Bundesliga teams were happy to trust Seifert when it came to sorting matters out.

"The 36 clubs of the Bundesliga and the Bundesliga 2 allowed me to grow to a relatively strong league organisation," he said. "I had the full support especially of the top teams in Germany - namely Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund - but also all the other clubs.

"And that allows me to have a very, very strong position when I talk to top politicians, where I can make real strong commitments. But also when I talk publicly, I know that the league is behind me.

"So the stronger the unit is who steers all the management levels you have, the better. Therefore that was for sure one thing that we had: a relatively strong league organisation."

Another key factor here was that the bosses were also determined from the off to not sit back and wait. Just as Todt talked about a 'New Deal' for motor racing and taking swift action immediately, so too the Bundesliga took decisive steps.

"When we shut down the league on 13th March, on the night of the 15th, I defined things at home because, as Ross [Brawn] knows, there were times of not so much sleep because you have a lot of stuff in your head," Seifert said.

"I was awake at night and I defined six work streams, and we followed these work streams in a pretty disciplined way.

"On 16th March, we started working by setting up the first calls, to get together a medical team that was able to define a concept for restart.

"Between the shutdown and starting work, there were three days so without losing much time with discussions over strategy or whatever.

"Times of crisis are times of leadership. You have to do something and that is exactly what we've done."

Fighting self-interest

When the FIA and Liberty Media advocated draconian cost cuts, and a slashing of the planned budget cap, there was some push back from the top teams about what was being talked about.

Just as F1 has had to make some difficult decisions in cancelling races or dealing with closed events, likewise the Bundesliga has had to battle critics who suggested it was too early to play matches again

In particular, Ferrari was not interested in cutting the budget cap below $145 million for 2021 - as it feared huge job losses because of it.

The Bundesliga too faced a fight with some teams about the resumption of the season - but that was more to do with direct sporting matters.

For those clubs that faced potential relegation if the season finished, there was an obvious self interest in getting the season cancelled.

Seifert added: "If we stopped the league and eliminated the season, and stopped promotion and relegation, then some clubs would have probably had a benefit from it.

"There were some rumours and talks, not in the open but behind the scenes in the beginning, that some clubs may not be so motivated to finish the league, and this is something that we had to solve first and it worked out."

The other factor was in ensuring that the stars of the show - in the Bundesliga's case, the players - were happy to restart the season.

"In the very beginning, when no one knows how this all can end up, then the players were afraid very much," he said.

"I fully understand that, and it was our obligation towards them and towards their families to convince them as good as we can that there was a medical concept, and that they were absolutely safe when they are on the training pitch or playing against each other."

Explaining things clearly

With the world coming to terms with a 'new normal' amid lockdown, there have been inevitable varied opinions about the value of sport returning. While fans wanted action back, some have felt that amid thousands of people dying each day it was not the right time for entertainment to return.

Seifert admits that was a problem the Bundesliga had to face.

"Of course there is the general mindset that in times of chaos, where people are dying, it's just not the time to have fun on a pitch," he said. "So to overcome the hurdle that the time was right again to play was a pretty big challenge.

"We communicated very honestly from the very beginning that it's not about the money and also that the players needed a greater goal - and the goal was not to play for the money because most of them already have enough money.

"It's about securing the clubs, saving the jobs and giving the people who are working in the offices, the camera people, the photographers, secretaries or marketing department or whatever, some security.

"And I think to define the greater goal was very, very important for us externally, so that people could understand why we are coming back and it's not only about the money."

Steering through the fake news

Just as F1 has had to make some difficult decisions in cancelling races or dealing with closed events, likewise the Bundesliga has had to battle critics who suggested it was too early to play matches again.

Any high profile sport will always have its sceptics and, amid a time of bad news, it was all too easy for those unhappy to suggest that the focus should be on treating the sick rather than entertaining the masses.

"If anyone doesn't want ghost games, he has to accept that 10 or 15 clubs will file for bankruptcy sooner or later. We were trying to draw a bigger picture here" Christian Seifert

And that has had an impact on those following the sport, with the Bundesliga finding that negative news - or headline grabbing accusations, even if untrue - have been a turn-off for some.

"We became a political subject," explained Seifert. "And, in fact, we had to deal with a lot of fake news for weeks, which also touches the fan base.

"We see that the ratings are not back on the level of before. [That's] because we had to fight with news that we take away testing capacities from nurses and doctors, or what we are doing is without conscience, or we are not sensitive enough. Or we should not play because kids are not allowed to play.

"All that stuff was very, very hard to overcome."

Not expecting things to be perfect

While in an ideal world, sport can get going again and the precautions put in place will ensure there is no spread of infection in football nor F1, the reality is that there will probably be isolated outbreaks.

Trying to achieve a perfect outcome is a pipe dream, so in dealing with realities - and in ensuring there are the kind of mitigation strategies that appeared to be lacking at the Australian Grand Prix - there is a much better chance of seeing through the resumption of activities.

For Seifert, it was about dealing with the maths and working out what was a likely outcome.

"I asked myself look: we have to finish nine match days. So, for eight weeks, and seven days, if every day 600 people are tested positive and there are unreported cases of let's say factor 10, that would mean in Germany there are 0.4% of positive cases in 10 months," he explained.

"If I see that on the level of 1000 players, that would mean four positive tested players. And if you have a 99.6% chance to succeed of course you should do this. And our concept should overcome that percentage.

"So, from the very beginning I thought to myself: 'OK, it's a tough situation but don't get hysterical here. OK, if I look at the numbers we have a good chance to finalise the league.'"

No fans is better than no sport

When the suggestion for closed door events for football and F1 were first mooted, there was an inevitable kickback from some who felt that this would be a huge disservice to the spectators who are its lifeblood.

But the reality is that if sports waited until fans could come back, then there would likely be no sport left at all.

As Seifert explained: "If anyone doesn't want ghost games, he has to accept that 10 or 15 clubs will file for bankruptcy sooner or later. We were trying to draw a bigger picture here.

"Yes, you see some millionaires playing out there on the pitch, but at the end, thousands of jobs are created behind them. And those are not millionaires."

Having no fans has also created its own challenges. One most obvious consequence is a lack of atmosphere in the stadiums - even though some clubs offered their ticket holders the chance to buy a seat and have a cardboard cut out of themselves there for the matches.

How did the Bundesliga deal with it?

"We changed the camera angles a little bit, we changed the audio concept a little bit over the microphones so from the very beginning it was pretty good," Seifert said. "Sky in Germany offered artificial fan sound from the same games of previous seasons, and that worked out pretty good.

"But let's be honest: with every game that is on screen, yes, you'll see football, but people see also that still something is wrong."

The pros outweigh the cons

In the end, despite lower TV numbers, the outside critics, and some complaints from fans about topics such as crowd noise, the resumption of the Bundesliga can be viewed a success.

And that should give F1 some heart that, in pushing on to get racing going again, it is the right thing to do overall.

"I cannot make sure that every one of these 36 clubs survive the crisis. But I can hopefully lead these two brands through this crisis together with my colleagues" Christian Seifert

Asked if in the end the pros outweighed the cons, Seifert said: "Overall, I would say definitely yes, because as a CEO my job is to lead those two German institutions, the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2, through this crisis and hopefully with all 36 clubs.

"To be honest, it's not my job and I cannot make sure that every one of these 36 clubs survive the crisis. But I can hopefully lead these two brands through this crisis together with my colleagues. And for me it looks like that we make this happen.

"And on the other side, we see that people right now are talking about the Bundesliga again, they're following the Bundesliga and people talk about something else [other than coronavirus]. I think also for the public, for mental health, it was a small step back to normal. So overall, it was definitely a positive thing to do.

"Although, until it happened, I got a lot of shit in my face I can tell you."