MOT View: Dire £110m warning for 20/21 PL season could spell disaster for Leeds
Leeds United should have finished the 19/20 season in the top-two today and started looking forward to life back in the Premier League.
There’s every chance that Leeds will still get promoted but there’s a worrying report in the Mail that could mean top-flight clubs are left with huge financial holes next season.
It claims that Premier League clubs are already planning to play the whole of the 20/21 season without fans.
The report quotes one Premier League executive as saying they “cannot see fans being allowed into stadiums until there is a vaccine available for Covid-19.”
That might not be available until well into 2021 and that could mean the whole of next season – and possibly even the Euro 2020 finals – being played without fans.
This is awful news for Leeds fans who have been waiting 16 years to see their side back in the top flight.
And the financial loss on football teams would be huge.
The Mail report claims that Man United would be hardest hit, with an incredible £110m of losses.
The matchday revenue for Leeds would be considerably lower than that but it would still represent a huge blow to the club.
You could argue that there will be teams worse off further down the ladder, but this is a disastrous scenario for Leeds.
For starters, it will have an impact on budgets with Leeds needing to strengthen for life in the Premier League.
Radrizznai has said that Leeds are already losing £2.5m because of the loss of matchday revenue from the last five games of this season.
No fans next season will have a serious impact and leave a big hole in the finances.
Beyond that, it could also have an immediate impact on the value of the club with Andrea Radrizzani looking to take on investment from QSI or possibly the San Francisco 49ers.
That could put on hold the serious investment that fans were desperately hoping for.
We desperately hope that this scenario doesn’t come to pass.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay: This is what the Championship ‘as a whole’ thinks of Leeds being handed promotion