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Post by rugbytoffee on Jul 29, 2020 15:51:00 GMT
The Covid-19 lockdown has come at a cost to football When football in the United Kingdom was suspended indefinitely following the final match to be played on English soil, Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid, it represented a venture into the unknown. Not since the Second World War had English football been brought to such a grinding halt, with matches at all levels of the game, from the Premier League down to five-a-side, suspended. The financial impact of this suspension has now been revealed for the first time by Business Rescue Expert, who state that Manchester City suffered the biggest loss in terms of matchday revenue, at a staggering £23.9 million. The scale of City's loss, compared to the £17.7 million lost by rivals Manchester United, is due to the fact that Pep Guardiola's side had six home games interrupted by the behind-closed-doors rules, compared to the four home games of Arsenal, who lost out on £12 million, and Chelsea, who saw £8.6 million slip away. The study took into account the average cost of the matchday experience for supporters, from the cost of drinks and food to the cost of matchday programmes. In total, they found that clubs at all levels of English football lost out on £305 million worth of matchday revenue during Project Restart. Redundancies of playing staff, backroom, administration and matchday staff has been rife in the English game since the outbreak of Covid-19, and it's believed that the very existence of a number of clubs remains in doubt due to the effect of the game's suspension.
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Post by evertonfan1968 on Jul 29, 2020 17:35:53 GMT
To these teams its nothing. Real businesses have closed permanently.
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Post by rugbytoffee on Sept 16, 2020 13:44:08 GMT
The footballing world has lost approximately £11.1 billion due to the coronavirus pandemic, analysis carried out by FIFA suggests.
150 of FIFA's 211 member associates were so badly hit by the financial implications of the pandemic that they applied to the governing body for emergency grants. Football's global governing body announced $1.5bn programme in grants and loans to help out its associates struggling to deal with the hiatus caused by the pandemic.
“It’s a huge number and it covers the football economy in its entirety,” said Olli Rehn, the chairman of the FIFA Covid-19 Relief Plan Steering Committee.
“It cannot be an exact figure, but it is an estimate of losses in 211 member associations.”
While more money has been lost in the European game, it is understood that Brazil, and the wider footballing world in Latin America, have been more seriously affected.
“If you look at the breakdown of losses in absolute and relative terms, European clubs and member associations were most impacted in absolute figures,” he said.
“But relatively those outside Europe have struggled more, especially in Latin America, mainly as a result of revenue mix and season timing. Smaller countries that are dependent on Fifa will actually be hit least.”
Rehn, a former European commissioner and head of the bank of Finland, said: “The loss under any scenario was too great for Fifa to mitigate alone. We are working very intensively with confederations to improve the situation.”
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Post by rugbytoffee on Sept 24, 2020 9:49:48 GMT
In 2018/19 Premier League clubs had around £700m of match day revenue with Manchester United leading the way with £111m, followed by Arsenal £96m, Liverpool £84m, Spurs £82m, Chelsea £676m and Manchester City £55m. At the other end of the spectrum, clubs like Burnley, West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield United had less than £10m.
Even though Arsenal matchday revenue was not the largest in the Premier League, it was by far the highest as a percentage of total revenue at 25%, much more than Spurs and Manchester United, both 18%. In fact, Arsenal are more reliant on this revenue stream than any other leading European club.
Based on the number of matches played in 2018/19, we can calculate the average revenue per match, ranging from Manchester United £4.3m to Burnley £0.3m.
If we assume that all matches are played behind closed doors until the end of the year, the Swiss Ramble estimates that Premier League clubs would lose a total of £288m. The largest losses would be Manchester United £47m, Spurs £36m, Liverpool £36m, Arsenal £35m, Chelsea £25m and Manchester City £24m.
Rather than an estimate based on eight home league games as above, it seems more realistic not to anticipate a return until mid-March. In that case, the total Premier League loss would increase to £451m. By club, the largest losses would be Manchester United £72m, Liverpool £55m, Arsenal £55m, Spurs £54m, Chelsea £37m and Manchester City £35m. If all games were played behind closed doors, the total loss would rise to £586m.
Timing is thus crucial. Taking Manchester United as an example, they would lose £47m if games are played behind closed doors until end year; £72m end-March; £94m whole season; £111m with progress in the cups.
In addition, clubs earn a fair amount from merchandising sales on match day, which would be reflected in commercial income, so there will be additional losses in that revenue stream, particularly at the elite clubs.
It is also possible that TV companies will push for rebates, as their “product” is devalued by the adverse impact from no spectators on the match day experience for armchair fans. This could be offset by televising more games, but this did not prevent a £330m rebate in 2019/20.
All that said, Premier League clubs still generate a huge amount of income even without match day revenue. As an example, if 100% of match day were lost in 2018/19, six clubs would still have earned more than £300m with Manchester United leading the way with £516m, down from £627m in total.
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Post by rugbytoffee on Sept 26, 2020 12:26:18 GMT
Some English Football League clubs are on the "brink" of collapse but cancelling the season will be a "last resort", says chairman Rick Parry.
With plans for some fans to return in October not proceeding the EFL aims to secure a rescue package to help cover an expected £250m loss in ticket sales.
The Premier League, government and other sources have been asked to help.
"We need specifics and clubs need answers and reassurances very soon," Parry told the BBC A number of clubs and sporting bodies have already expressed their concerns after plans for fans to return to sporting events in England were postponed.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Parry outlined the situation faced by many EFL clubs.
"In League One and League Two more than 30% of the revenues come from gate receipts," he said.
"We've consistently said we need up to £250m and that was based on the losses of last season and an assumption that we play the whole of this season without crowds.
"Some [clubs] are on the brink. Some would have been without Covid-19. We have kept nearly all of them intact so far and of course there is a prospect that if we can't get a package some will go to the wall.
"In a normal year our clubs rely on £440m of owner funding to keep them afloat. That is the size of the losses they make."
Both League One and League Two ended early last term after a vote by clubs in June - helping to limit losses.
But Parry, who remains "confident" that financial assistance will be forthcoming says cancelling the season at those levels could have disastrous consequences.
"We need League One and League Two to remain relevant. If we go into hibernation we might not come out of it," he added.
"They are the heartbeat of their communities and we need them playing football and coming out of this stronger."
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