Man Utd losing up to £5m for every home game without fans since Covid-19 crisis
Posted Thursday, August 20, 2020 by Dailystar.co.uk
Manchester United may have missed out on up to £20million in revenue after their last four remaining Premier League home games were played without fans at Old Trafford
Manchester United may have lost out on an extra £5million in revenue for every home game played without paying spectators during the coronavirus pandemic.
Old Trafford remains the largest capacity club stadium in England with 75,000 fans usually packed inside for most Premier League home games.
But the Red Devils were forced to play their final four home league games to an empty stadium after Project Restart got underway.
While this has been the case for every other club up and down the country, United have lost out on substantial match day revenue as a result.
It did not seem to affect Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ’s team too much on the pitch as they clinched a top four spot on the final day of the Premier League season.
But while United remain one of the richest clubs in world football, they have also been hit hard at the unprecedented situation football finds itself in.
Old Trafford hasn't hosted a game with supporters since the 2-0 victory over Manchester City on March 8, with the subsequent four Premier League matches played behind closed doors.
In those fixtures they beat Sheffield United and Bournemouth, and drew with Southampton and West Ham.
But the absence of match day revenue for those games could have cost the club up to £20m.
On top of that, clubs usually have the security of knowing they have season-ticket renewals to bolster their transfer kitty.
Last year United sold all of their 52,000 season tickets in record time, but the club do not have that luxury this time around.
Reports suggest that some fans will be allowed back into stadiums in October but nothing concrete has been announced as of yet.
And the financial hit has obviously affected the way that United will conduct their business in the summer transfer market.
That said, they have been actively trying to sign Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund, who is likely to cost close to £100m.
But it remains to be seen how much Ed Woodward is willing to pay for the England winger under the current climate.
One thing is for certain though, the quicker they can get fans back inside Old Trafford, the better it will be for everyone involved with the club.
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