© Copyright – 2020 – Athletics Illustrated
Katsuhiro Miyamoto, professor of theoretical economics at Kansai University in Japan, published a report indicating that the cancellation of hundreds of races in Japan had an economic impact of $6.74 billion. He used the date range of autumn 2020 to the spring of 2021.
Globally, the race schedule was decimated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Miyamoto’s data of 6.74 billion US dollars applies to Japan alone, the global economic consequences are massive. The European and North American race schedules cover more area and larger populations.
There are nearly 600 million people in North America, 741 million in Europe, and 126 million in Japan.
The report’s math includes overlapping losses for example lack of spending by vendors due to reduced income, as well as the loss of registration fees and accommodation revenues.
The Tokyo Marathon is estimated to have lost around $275 million in 2021 as it might again be an elite-only race. It is one of the largest races in the world.
The London Marathon was run as an elite only race last weekend. It is the biggest single fundraising event of the year. typically, the race weekend generates $200 million in economic activity.
For this year’s event, the prize money was cut in half. The prize purse was $313,000 with a further $850,000 in time bonusses in 2019.
The Osaka Marathon, which was scheduled for November, will lose $171 million, while the Kobe Marathon $66.5 million.
