IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON PROFESSIONAL AND PERFORMANCE SPORT IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

This paper focuses on three sports organizations that operate in professional and performance sports in the Czech Republic and identifies the impact of the COVID-19 situation on their operation. AC Sparta Prague is a club that operates in primary sports (football) and has finished the season despite the limited number of spectators in the stands. HC Sparta Prague is a hockey club, which operates in a competition where the end of the competition (play-offs) has been cancelled, and RunCzech is an organization that organizes distance running and has had its entire planned season cancelled. The study is based on qualitative interviews with representatives of organizations. All organizations are to some extent financially secured, mainly due to the fact that relations with their key partners are long-term and amicable. All organizations, in cooperation with partners, modified the performance of these contracts and at the same time tried to modify their products. In this context, the situation is best for RunCzech, which could change its basic product because it is not tied to time, place, or opponent. AC Sparta Prague and HC Sparta Prague have a more complex position in this context, as their product cannot be provided without the game itself. Due to the fact that collective play needs a large number of people for the actual organization, these sports carry a high risk that the seasons will be interrupted or cancelled again in the event of further epidemic waves, and in the long run there will be drastic changes in collective sports. A common feature of all organizations is that they are ready to invest the necessary money in preventive measures against COVID-19.