Journalist gives detailed insight into Spurs’ financial standing amidst COVID-19 pandemic

Tottenham have been severely affected by the financial impact of the coronavirus, partly due to their huge reliance on matchday income, Sky Sports’ Paul Gilmour has revealed.

Reports have suggested that Jose Mourinho might be handed as little as £50 million to spend this summer if the club fails to qualify for the Champions League (Telegraph).

Gilmour explained how the club will lose out on considerable matchday revenue, not just this season, but possibly next year too.

The journalist explained: “Let’s take Spurs. They rely a lot on matchday revenue. They’re losing around £4m-£5m a game for the rest of this season.

“I think they had five home games left. That’s more difficult because they still had to play some big games – Manchester United, Arsenal, which are both Category A matches, and West Ham are in there.

“The facilities at the new stadium meant a lot of fans spent money in there before and after games. That’s all gone. It may well go into next season if fans continue to be kept away for their own safety.

“That brings me onto season ticket renewals. Spurs suspended that process the day before they originally planned to sell those out of respect to fans who may be suffering hardship in these tough times. Forty-two thousand season-ticket holders last season so that’s worth £40-£50m.

“The only revenue at the moment is online retail and I can’t imagine that doing too well.”

Former Tottenham director of football, Damien Comolli, has suggested that the Lilywhites might be hit harder than other clubs due to the debt they owe on their stadium (Sky Sports).

Gilmour also revealed that the Spurs have a shortage in cash reserve due to their investment into the stadium, while suggesting that Joe Lewis is unlikely to dip into his pocket to help the club come through this difficult spell.

He added: “Cash reserves had been used on the stadium (hefty bill for that) and on the development of the local area as well, including the creation of jobs.

“It’s been well documented what the furlough situation was and the club have rectified that. A lot of fans are asking if Joe Lewis should dig deep into the pockets.

“From what I’m told, he invests in a lot of companies so maybe isn’t always in a position to help with transfers. Regardless of that, what we can take away is that this will make transfers in football tougher to negotiate.”

Spurs Web Opinion

I believe that the club will proceed extremely cautiously this summer due to the substantial debt that is still owed on the stadium. However, I wouldn’t say that we are the worst affected.

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