Yahoo Finance Spurs post £64m loss as COVID-19 hurts revenue
The Tottenham Hotspur football club reported a loss of £63.9m ($85.6m) for the year ended 30 June 2020, down from a profit of £68.8m a year ago, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Its chairman, Daniel Levy, said the company “is currently in the midst of one of the most challenging times ever experienced.”
“The impact of the pandemic on our revenue is material and could not have come at a worse time, having just completed a £1.2bn stadium build which is financed by club resources and long-term debt,” he said.
He explained that the most recent season has seen no spectators at games due to lockdown restrictions, on top of which there has a been a hit to other streams of revenue, including third party events such as NFL and concerts, as well as stores and visitor attractions.
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“Our estimate for the current financial year of the potential loss of revenue, should the stadium remain closed to fans, is in excess of £150m. Clearly this would be an irrecoverable loss of income,” he said.
Revenue for the year was £402.4m, down from £460.7m last year and Premier League broadcasting and media revenues decreased to £95.2m from £149.9m in 2019.
Levy stressed that Premier League clubs are “entirely capable […] of responsibly delivering outdoor events with social distancing and exemplary hygiene standards” and added he hopes the situation will improve, given the latest news on vaccine developments and ‘clinical passports’.
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It was reported back in July that the Premier League was looking at these so-called passports to help get fans back into stadiums.
Meanwhile the Tottenham Hotspur club opened up its stadium to the NHS, which has held more than 41,000 antenatal appointments in it so far. The venue’s basement has also been turned into a COVID-19 testing site.
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