Money, money, money in a rich Spurs world… more than Villa make in ticket prices.
By Don Scully
I’ve been reading a fascinating article; Financial expert Keiran Maguire has told the website Football Insider that we, as a club, make more money selling pints and burgers across a whole season than Aston Villa do with ticket sales. Amazing. Then add our extra entertainments and hiring out boardrooms etc., we swamp most teams (if not all). All this came out after Villa had announced that their season ticket had been renewed for the 2021/22 season in record numbers. In an earlier Football Insider interview, Maguire said that Villa only takes around £11m per season from their gate receipts, which, granted, is well below many other Premier League clubs.
Villa’s ground, Villa Park, holds around 43,000 fans, while our new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium holds 63,000 and is specifically designed to drive the revenue up. Putting that all together, he has now compared this figure to the amount Spurs make from selling food and drink on any given matchday.
All good news for Daniel Levy and the Board, who will hope that we get the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium back to total capacity for the 2021/22 campaign to finally reap the financial rewards. And remember what Daniel Levy said in that controlled interview; any profits made (from whichever department) goes straight into the team (oh, and their pockets/ wages, of course!).
Maguire said: “Spurs make £800,000 per game just from catering. That’s over £15m a season. They make more from selling pints and burgers than Villa do from selling tickets. Villa Park is bigger than the likes of Brighton and Crystal Palace’s stadiums, but those clubs still earn more from matchday. One thing I would say is that what seems to go into matchday income seems to vary from club to club. Some clubs include catering and matchday together, some won’t. I quote these figures because they come from the accounts, but there is no agreed standard between the clubs themselves.”
Exciting reading for us, or is it?
My feelings on the matter;
Give us a season to recoup some of the money back (we’ve lost) and don’t get what our mate marmite, Daniel, said in that interview; even though we (the stadium/ club) owe a hefty sum, this is in the long term, and we are currently in a stable position. So does that mean the following season we can put all the other clubs to shame, especially the top big five, when it comes to the Transfer Window? And we also mustn’t forget that we’ve got boxing, concerts and American football all lined up. Money, money, money in a Daniel Levy Spurs’ world.
Is that how we should read it? That Tottenham will genuinely be now the Kings of White Hart Lane (sorry, the Tottenham stadium) or was Levy telling porkies in that constrained video?
By Don Scully
I have been following Spurs since the sixties and work in London. My current job is as a professional writer (working in the media), and I have work connections to the club and had previously worked for them. Including working at the old White Hart Lane stadium.
I also have my own blog and have written for the SpursWeb app & its website.
Great article as always and I appreciate your blunt honesty every time.
I just feel this is another example of money going in but the idea that every single penny goes into the team? If that is the case then where did the money not spent in the two transfer windows go? How did that go into the team and where? N’Dombele maybe? Seems a little odd and grabbing at straws.
As for the controlled interview that was such a cringe fest. Directed and scripted by Daniel himself it was incredibly embarrassing to watch and I think once the ground is full that he will find he is really not as popular as he once was. He says he wants to remain private but he never shows contrition or apology for mistakes.
He says he is a custodian of the club but he seems to think he is Tottenham Hotspur. He remains private and disengaged with the fans but his ego is so big I am surprised he ever gets his head through the doors.
Thank you for your comments.
Great read but let’s just understand a few things
Match day revenue may well achieve 800k but that’s not “making” that’s taking 800k
After cost of goods, staff wages and any overheads associated with that including fees to Compass Group (subsidiary is Levy UK) you probably clear 20% Absolute bottom line profit which is what will be ploughed into the team etc
All I am pointing out is understand what you take is not what you make.
For sure we have world class facilities in every area and absolutely capitalise on the matchday revenues with reasonable prices, good food and drink offering and reasons to come earlier and stay later and all of this is a clever way of ensuring we get as much of the fans ££ back into the club.
By now we all know how shrewd Levy is and we will see those benefits in years to come.
Levy’s position in the club should be commercially focused but someone else should be calling the shots from a football perspective and transfer dealings
Yes, he knew that was taking, however, I think the point is the same. I also think the article was a bit tongue in cheek. But thanks.