UK’s economy will lose a good amount of money if football clubs shut.

[Juggy777]

UK government’s decision to scrap the plans that would allow fans to be back in the stadium post October 1st, has forced the football clubs to claim that if fans continue to remain absent then they could be forced to shut down their clubs.

Furthermore if no middle ground can be reached and clubs are forced to shut down then it’ll definitely harm UK’s economy, because so many people will loose their jobs in an instant, and government will also lose the taxes that it would have normally gained from those clubs, hence it’s important that they find a middle ground soon.

Lastly it’s a debatable question but is the UK government right as they’re considering people’s safety first due to the sudden increase in covid cases, or are the clubs right who're fearing for their finances, and not bothering about covid spreading if fans are allowed back?.

Now they know that there’s no fans coming in probably for six months and it’s not just the loss of fan income through the turnstiles, it’s all the other commercial income that follows it: matchday hospitality, advertising, sponsorship, weddings, events and what have you.

So, maybe now they might see that the situation is real, that a number of clubs are going to go bust very, very soon because they’re not going to have the cash to pay the wages and other overheads.

Sources:

https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/sport/many-clubs-wont-be-able-to-withstand-lack-of-fans-at-games-efl-chairmen-warn/

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-54270435

https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/sport/national/18741613.fa-warns-huge-impact-coronavirus-restrictions-football/

[1714752368]

1714752368

[jackg]

They'd probably be fast to recover either. Assuming the clubs got no interest loans to help them fund things like paying bills.

I'd assumed there'd be some sort of cheaper season ticketing style system in place about now where people could. Watch the games live, not sure if the clubs make much from broadcasting corporations?

I think the revenue of football clubs is <100bn so it's probably fairly minor.

[BIT-BENDER]

The UK government are concerned And looking out for the health of people because of the corona virus. Fans has been absent from football and this should affect clubs.
But football is a part of UK economy boosters, English football is well/widely watch. Absent of fans would be felt by small clubs, especially those in the lower tiers, the big clubs still has endorsement deals they get big money from, and the league sells out TV right which can keep the league running.

 The English football association can not open the gates of stadiums to all fans, not just now. But to keep smaller clubs running social distance can be made to limited/smaller amount of fans letting them in and a bit higher TV right incentives to such clubs.

[AjithBtc]

Most of the soccer leagues were planned to be played without audience. So, once again the revenue gets disturbed. Football clubs will try to hold back the players allowing few players to go on rest. Beyond certain level management finds it hard to hold back, and as a result there were large number of soccer clubs on sale.

Maybe a good investor can give back life to the soccer clubs. We don't know the exact time period for the invention of the covid-19 vaccine. Until the vaccine is developed, there'll be very tight economic situation with these clubs.

[Jet Cash]

The whole Covid business is a load of bollocks. Opening the clubs would mean that they have to admit they have been wrong, and they have wasted enormous amounts of our money over this not very dangerous virus. They have to continue promoting this panicdemic to allow them to implement forced vaccinations, and to get rid of smaller businesses.

[Lucius]

We all know that football stadiums are open spaces, so measures of social distance and wearing protective masks would significantly reduce the risk of infection. I would suggest a solution to let a certain number of spectators into the stadium, that everyone must have a mask and be at a distance from other spectators, and that everyone at the entrance be measured the temperature.

Of course, there is the problem of who will be able to buy a ticket and who will not - but I would also solve this with personalized tickets in such a way that each person must have a break between matches so that everyone gets an equal chance to buy a ticket. It is easiest to ban something completely, but I think that we should still look for ways for people to continue to live normally as much as possible - the virus is there and may be for years to come, we must learn to live with it.

I'm not sure if this rule still applies, but in France 5000 spectators were allowed per game, with the possibility of even more with the approval of local authorities.

Because of coronavirus restrictions, a maximum of 5,000 spectators are allowed at the games, unless clubs get a special dispensation from their local authority. Regardless of the increasing case numbers in the country, "The French league salutes the decision,” the LFP said in a statement Saturday, adding that it hopes other clubs can follow suit.
Spectators still have to wear masks inside the stadium and observe social distancing.

[plvbob0070]

The UK has a growing number of daily cases so it'll be hard for them to allow fans since the governments are trying to avoid making crowds. This is a difficult situation that a lot of countries are experiencing, choosing between the economy and the safety of everyone. Maybe if the cases will decrease, they can start allowing fans but with limited capacity only to ensure social distancing plus the protocols. Also, once this pandemic is over, I think they can easily recover as well since a lot of fans would be missing the games so perhaps they should focus more on improving the situation first.

[carter34]

The whole Covid business is a load of bollocks. Opening the clubs would mean that they have to admit they have been wrong, and they have wasted enormous amounts of our money over this not very dangerous virus. They have to continue promoting this panicdemic to allow them to implement forced vaccinations, and to get rid of smaller businesses.

I really think that there is something that the government are not letting people know about this called covid-19. Economies are going down. They won't want to allow full resumption of football and fans because the reason for shutting it down initially has not been taking care of. If it is allowed to open as the FAs want, questions will be raised.

[hulla]

The UK government are concerned And looking out for the health of people because of the corona virus.

Thats understood but ever since the ease of lockdown, people are allow to go to barber shop, restaurants, place of worship etc thats should also happen in the sports scheme either so that the clubs, the people involved will also make more income and also get inspire by the fans.
It will be good if the UK government come to a good conclusion.

The whole Covid business is a load of bollocks. Opening the clubs would mean that they have to admit they have been wrong, and they have wasted enormous amounts of our money over this not very dangerous virus.

I don't why you consider COVID19 as not a very dangerous virus but the rate of how people are infected and killed by it is enough to consider it a dangerous virus.

They have to continue promoting this panicdemic to allow them to implement forced vaccinations

I also feel concern about the vaccination which ought to have been develop by now but why would it be forced?

[BIT-BENDER]

Thats understood er since the ease of lockdown, people are allow to go to barber shop, restaurants, place of worship etc thats should also happen in the sports scheme either so that the clubs, the people involved will also make more income and also get inspire by the fans.
It will be good if the UK government come to a good conclusion.

The fullest capacity of a well patronize barbing saloon is not greater than 30, not using numbers a barbing saloon, gym house, capacity or people in it can't match that of a football stadium which can be in an excess of seventy thousand people.
Restaurant, eatry and relaxation centers are not fully opened and there is still limitations of possible people, some has no chairs, customers can only buy take always because of the corona virus.
 Football stadium reopening is in the level of schools reopening it not rushed, if rush can spark another wave of corona virus.

[teosanru]

UK government’s decision to scrap the plans that would allow fans to be back in the stadium post October 1st, has forced the football clubs to claim that if fans continue to remain absent then they could be forced to shut down their clubs.

Furthermore if no middle ground can be reached and clubs are forced to shut down then it’ll definitely harm UK’s economy, because so many people will loose their jobs in an instant, and government will also lose the taxes that it would have normally gained from those clubs, hence it’s important that they find a middle ground soon.

Lastly it’s a debatable question but is the UK government right as they’re considering people’s safety first due to the sudden increase in covid cases, or are the clubs right who're fearing for their finances, and not bothering about covid spreading if fans are allowed back?.

Now they know that there’s no fans coming in probably for six months and it’s not just the loss of fan income through the turnstiles, it’s all the other commercial income that follows it: matchday hospitality, advertising, sponsorship, weddings, events and what have you.

So, maybe now they might see that the situation is real, that a number of clubs are going to go bust very, very soon because they’re not going to have the cash to pay the wages and other overheads.

Sources:

https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/sport/many-clubs-wont-be-able-to-withstand-lack-of-fans-at-games-efl-chairmen-warn/

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-54270435

https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/sport/national/18741613.fa-warns-huge-impact-coronavirus-restrictions-football/

This is a tremendous vicious circle to be very frank. On one side if you see that keeping clubs shut down would lead to economy deprivation while on the other hand if fans are allowed inside the stadium chances are most of them would be infected and then treatment of each and every such patient would be much more difficult for UK and would have a much larger impact on their Economy. Technically the shutting down of clubs makes more sense because the latter is going to be with a lot of casualities. I think government's decision is absolutely correct.

[shield132]

I love premier league!
And I really hate when someone says: why do you care about finances? Health is more improtant. For me, it sounds very stupid and dumb. Your wealth defines your health right now. Stucked economics = fall of everything. No work = creating of nothing. Food won't come out of thin air.
Fans must be allowed to be back on stadiums if we want to keep football and if we don't want to lose the possibility of seeing high performance of talented footballers.

[fiulpro]

I feel it's not just UK but many countries
At the same time they are on the edge due to the pandemic and therefore cannot take any blow to their economy , I believe this is a good decision. Even though they are wonderful when it comes to income they still have to do this because the longer UK takes to recover from this pandemic, there will be even more losses. Therefore I believe this is the right decision if taken for now.
Most important thing is to control the virus and UK doesn't have much cases , around 4000 is easily controllable but only with serious measures.
For now quarantine needs to be implemented fully , even one problem might prove fatal !!

At the same time you cannot expect angry football fans to wear masks and listen 😂

[TopTort777]

I’m not very familiar with modern football, but cant the clubs just run pay-per-view system?
I’m a MMA fan. In spring, due to lockdown, all the ufc events were cancelled. Starting from summer, ufc run events without fans, but sells a PPV for a reduced price. They still earn, fans still have option to watch. Can same be used in football and prevent UK economy from losses?

[mnporter2001]

Football teams have many sources of income from advertising services. although there are no spectators on the pitch, they can still promote certain brands by printing a logo on their jersey. In addition, they can still sell the rights to broadcasters when the game is played.
They still have revenue but less than usual, I think they will still be operating for a long time, the cash flow is always flowing properly so football bankruptcy is not possible.

[exstasie]

They'd probably be fast to recover either. Assuming the clubs got no interest loans to help them fund things like paying bills.

How long could that go on? These types of solutions made sense in March when we all thought a 3-week lockdown would prevent a pandemic, but now that the situation is indefinite....?

I think the revenue of football clubs is <100bn so it's probably fairly minor.

At 3.3 billion pounds per year, they account for ~0.5-0.6% of the UK's total tax base. It's not that insignificant. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/premier-leagues-7-6bn-contribution-to-uk-economy-glrz53vf6

I’m not very familiar with modern football, but cant the clubs just run pay-per-view system?

Brick-and-mortar stadiums and their support workers are the brunt of the associated workforce. They represent some 100,000 jobs.

[jackg]

They'd probably be fast to recover either. Assuming the clubs got no interest loans to help them fund things like paying bills.

How long could that go on? These types of solutions made sense in March when we all thought a 3-week lockdown would prevent a pandemic, but now that the situation is indefinite....?

I think the revenue of football clubs is <100bn so it's probably fairly minor.

At 3.3 billion pounds per year, they account for ~0.5-0.6% of the UK's total tax base. It's not that insignificant. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/premier-leagues-7-6bn-contribution-to-uk-economy-glrz53vf6

That must've taken some digging, I couldn't find any reports on how big it was but I remember hearing it was less than [someone] was worth.

3.3 billion is pretty tiny compared with gdp, to be lost for a while it'll have some effect but I imagine by the next season (assuming its after march next year) it'll probably be as normal if we have a vaccine by then.

[exstasie]

At 3.3 billion pounds per year, they account for ~0.5-0.6% of the UK's total tax base. It's not that insignificant. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/premier-leagues-7-6bn-contribution-to-uk-economy-glrz53vf6

That must've taken some digging, I couldn't find any reports on how big it was but I remember hearing it was less than [someone] was worth.

3.3 billion is pretty tiny compared with gdp, to be lost for a while it'll have some effect but I imagine by the next season (assuming its after march next year) it'll probably be as normal if we have a vaccine by then.

That's the eternal "if" I guess. I still worry too much hope is being placed on a vaccine being developed faster than ever before, by a matter of ~3 years.

In terms of GDP it's more like 7.6 billion pounds. Well that was based on the 2016-2017 season. I assume it's higher now. Taken alone vs. the entire economy it may seem like small potatoes (in terms of GDP anyway) but these different sectors will add up, especially when you consider jobs. My rough math says the EPL accounts for something like 0.3% of the UK workforce.

[JakobFugger]

Why is the UK economy losing money? I mean, in the relationship between entering foreign currency and leaving. Tv contracts are likely to remain the same. The audience that actually consumes football is the local audience. They may not be spending on live football, but it is certainly spending on other activities.

I believe that there are other sectors that are much more impacted, such as tourism, musical events and business events.

[mersal]

UK is facing the second wave of corona virus as far as I know so this is not the right time to allow people into stadiums because it is going to increase the number of cases and can damage the whole economy in no time.Not much revenue made from football clubs when compared to the totsl revenue of such developed country.