Man United Hurting As COVID Squeeze Bites Sports Businesses

The latest set of financial results from footballing giant Manchester United will make pretty bleak reading for anyone with a financial interest in sporting businesses.

The headline figure is that year-on-year matchday revenue for the club has plummeted by more than 90 per cent to just £1.7 million in the three months running up to September.

Other Revenue

Although the club recorded an increase in broadcasting revenue to £47.6 million, it wasn’t enough to offset the overall slump in earnings, meaning Manchester United recorded a loss of £30 million on revenue of £109 million.

The club cites the loss of revenue from ticket sales due to having to play matches in private thanks to the coronavirus crisis as one of the main causes of its financial strife.

The cancellation of its pre-season tour will have hurt the club financially as well.

With the sporting calendar in crisis – and English league games suspended for three months earlier in the year – football clubs are desperate to get paying fans back in stadiums.

Manchester United reckons it can safely welcome 23,500 ticket holders into its Old Trafford stadium in a safe and socially distanced way.

Government Pressure

It has urged the government to let football grounds open their doors once again to help provide some desperately needed stabilising revenue, but the current four-week lockdown across England has called the viability of this into question in the short term.

But despite a troubling set of results for Man United shareholders, the club remains upbeat about its future and its ability to weather the COVID-19 crisis.

It also acknowledges its role in the wider context of English football.

Manchester United’s executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, said:

We recognise that not all football clubs are in as robust of a financial position and that the Premier League has a responsibility to support the wider English football pyramid.

“We will continue to push for this support, both through emergency assistance during the pandemic, and through longer-term reforms to ensure that the success of the Premier League is reinforced for the benefit of the national game as a whole.”

Woodward also commented that:

“While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause significant disruption, we are optimistic that the recovery and normalisation phase is gradually coming into view.”