Injury in sport is inevitable. With the increase in commercialisation of many popular sports like Football / Soccer, Rugby, Tennis, Golf, and American sports like American Football, Baseball and Basketball, competitive fixtures are coming thick and fast. With huge brand sponsorship deal, TV rights and ticket sales, sport has become one of the biggest financial spinners in the game – and it certainly doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Each sport is also generating finer margins year on year and the athletic requirements for athletes to keep up and remain competitive in these environments is incredible.
Rising Costs of Injuries in Elite Football
Unfortunately, there comes a point in which athletes can’t keep up and their bodies start to break down with injury. Across Europe’s top five men’s football leagues in the 2022-2023 season, injury costs rose by almost 30% (€553,620,000 to €704,890,000) on the previous 2021-2022 season (Howden, 2023).
In the 2023-2024 English Premier League (EPL) season, total injuries were up 11% on the previous campaign (total = 655), at unprecedented levels (Dinnery, online).
Furthermore, just last week, several Premier League Football Stars have come out in the media outlining their frustrations and anxieties around the increased fixture schedules that they are expected to complete. One of which, Man City’s Rhodri, very unfortunately picked up a nasty ACL injury just a few days later keeping him on the sidelines for the remainder of the season.
The True Cost of Player Absences
The financial benefits of sporting commercialisation are clear. However, injuries of course will prove a financial burden to the clubs too! The effect of an injury on an athlete’s performance in individual sports such as tennis, golf or boxing is implicit. Time away means an absence of training, participation in competition, loss of ranking and ultimately unavailability for financial recognition.
However, the impact of a single player's absence in team sport is more difficult to quantify, both from a performance and financial perspective (Turnbull et al., 2024). Significant negative relationships have been found with the number of days missed due to injury and final league ranking vs. expected ranking in the English Premier League (EPL).
It was also estimated that an EPL team lose an average of £45,000,000 due to injury per season (Eliakim et al., 2020), and the costliest injury last season was Kevin De Bruyne’s hamstring injury, estimated to cost Man City a staggering £8,057,143 in wages alone! Man City’s closest rivals, Man United, forked out a remarkable £39,867,229 for injured player salaries last season, costing them 19% of their total salary budget. For our Spanish counterparts, the 2018-2019 La Liga season saw an average of €4,389,732 per season, with a whopping majority coming from hamstring injuries of €568,656. If only there were controllables that could be put in place to minimise the risk of sustaining injury…
Injury Impact on League Performance and Rankings
In fact, it was interpolated that approximately 136 days missed due to injury causes a team loss of one league point, and 271 days missed costs a team 1 place in the table. Considering that each place was worth approximately £2,200,000 in the 2023-2024 EPL season (Dinnery, online), one place lost due to injury seems pretty significant.
The Push for Injury Prevention
“Injury prevention” is a term thrown around in the field of sports science and medicine, and although “prevention” is perhaps not necessarily the right word, significant efforts can and should be made to minimise the risk that is placed on our athletes whilst competing in their sport.
Technological advancements and increasing our understanding of load management are efforts that we place great emphasis on, but we still aren't seeing the results we need.
Continuing to invest in advanced medical, training, and recovery programs is essential to safeguard player well-being, but addressing the root causes of these injuries is crucial in reducing the incidence and economic burden of player injury (e.g. fixture congestion). Whilst doing so, ensuring that our attention is focused on the correct technology, expertise and infrastructure is key.
The Role of Technology and Expertise
Critically evaluating the quality of sports tech tools and involving experts in their application is imperative. Clubs must make informed decisions on how best to use technology to support their athletes and balance the intense demands of the modern game.
Conclusion
The stakes in professional football are undeniably high. With injury costs rising and player well-being at risk, clubs need to implement smarter risk management and data-driven strategies. Protecting their financial investments and, more importantly, safeguarding the health of their players is essential for sustained success.
References
Eliakim E, Morgulev E, Lidor R, et al Estimation of injury costs: financial damage of English Premier League teams’ underachievement due to injuriesBMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine 2020;6:e000675. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2019-000675. https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/6/1/e000675
Ben Dinnery - https://www.premierinjuries.com/article/epl-2023-24-season-injury-review-financial-impact
Jason McKenna - https://analyticsfc.co.uk/blog/2023/06/26/the-cost-of-injuries-in-the-premier-league/
https://www.premierinjuries.com/article/2023-24-epl-season-injury-review
Nieto Torrejón, L., Martínez-Serrano, A., Villalón, J. M., & Alcaraz, P. E. (2024). Economic impact of muscle injury rate and hamstring strain injuries in professional football clubs. Evidence from LaLiga. PloS one, 19(6), e0301498. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301498, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11175487/
Howden - https://www.howdengroupholdings.com/news/howden-2022-23-mens-european-football-injury-index
Turnbull, M. R., Gallo, T. F., Carter, H. E., Drew, M., Toohey, L. A., & Waddington, G. (2024). Estimating the cost of sports injuries: A scoping review. Journal of science and medicine in sport, 27(5), 307–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2024.03.001. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38514294/
