Tottenham risk crippling £250m blow: Breakdown of the cost of relegation
Tottenham Hotspur may be about to receive a crippling financial blow, according to a football finance expert.
There have already been reports of Tottenham losing some sponsors in light of their continued underperformance in the Premier League.
It appears that the neglect of the first team is now hurting the club’s bottom line, and the worst may still be yet to come.
It was reported last week that Tottenham would face a £100m financial black hole if they go down to the Championship, but it has now been claimed that the damage could be far worse.
Tottenham could face losses of £250m if they get relegated
The Lilywhites are sitting just four points above 18th-placed West Ham with 11 games to go, and are now in very real risk of going down for the first time in nearly 50 years.
According to football finance expert Kieran Maguire, the blow to the club’s balance sheet could be immense, with Spurs potentially losing up to £250m if they do finish in the bottom three.
When asked if relegation would be a financial disaster for Spurs, Maguire told talkSPORT: “That’s right. I think if you go from Champions League, where they are at present, to the Championship, we’re probably looking at a potential reduction in revenue of around about £250million.
“They will be in receipt of parachute payments, instead of the money they get from the Premier League. Last year they got £127million from the Premier League – it would be £45million in terms of parachute payments. They won’t get any of the money from the Champions League… they’ve earned £70million to date, plus they’ve got gate receipts from those matches.
“If you look at the gate receipts, they’re going to struggle to get 62,000 if it’s Lincoln City at home on a Tuesday night. Spurs fans support their team, but being able to extract for that value will be really difficult. And then you’ve got to look at their sponsors. They’ve got a £40m deal with AI, they’ve got the big deal with Nike… there’s likely to be relegation clauses in those as well.”
Maguire says relegation could bring a summer clearout at Spurs
Reports indicate that there could be a mass exodus from Tottenham if the club go down to the Championship.
Maguire believes that Spurs will be forced to sell their high earners and trim their wage bill if the campaign ends in relegation.
When asked if the Tottenham stars will have relegation clauses in their contracts, the finance expert added: “Certainly at the elite end of the Premier League, clauses are all focused on bonuses for qualifying for the Champions League and how they are organised. Clubs such as Spurs wouldn’t have ever countenanced the prospect of relegation, so it’s unlikely to have such clauses
“But I would expect an exodus at the end of the season… the club will look to cash in and players will want to play at the elite end of football…there will be players wanting to leave and players that the club will want to leave.
“That will help to reduce the wage bill, and what Spurs have in their favour is that they already substantially have the lowest wage bill of the so-called ‘Big Six’. Even so, it will be a challenge – and they also owe £300m in unpaid transfer fees to players that they’ve already signed because they bought them on instalments.”
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