The UEFA Champions final was initially supposed to occur in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in a couple of months. However, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Europe’s governing body decided to pull the plug on the event being held in the Eastern European nation.
Once UEFA decided that the Russian city wouldn’t host, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was on standby as a possible venue to host the final. However, it eventually went to the Stade de France, with the Champions League final returning to Paris for the first time since 2006.
Finance guru Kieran Maguire spoke with Football Insider, stating that Tottenham had missed a “serious” revenue-generating event by missing out on hosting the Champions League final.
“You would normally charge a hosting fee, which is a flat fee,” Maguire said. “With the prestige of the Champions League final, it’s capable of generating serious revenue. They would also make money on the catering on the day. On a normal home match, they aim to make £800,000 from catering receipts.”
“They are incredibly efficient in the range and speed of service. For a Champions League final, that would only increase. If they were going to choose a stadium in the UK, you’re looking at Wembley, the London Stadium, or Spurs’ stadium. I think Spurs have got the edge over the likes of the Emirates in London.”
Since its opening in 2019, the stadium has hosted blockbuster heavyweight boxing clashes, and NFL matches as Tottenham hopes to squeeze as much revenue as possible from the venue.
As a result, Maguire asserts that the north London club could have boosted income at the 63,000-seater stadium even further with the Champions League final match.
This is a textbook example of why people don’t trust the media anymore.
And who are benefitting the most it seems.
Exactly that, THFC didn’t ‘miss out’ as they were never ‘in.’
The EU is a Franco/German construct, after all…
Well maybe as the French army is ranked #7 in the world while the UK is #8 the French poodle and the Nazi attack dog have it sewn up between them.
The stadium is hosting the Rugby Challenge Cup Final on Saturday 28th May, the same day as the CL Final.- so we could not host it. I am sure we will sell lots of beer to the rugby fans that day.
Lazy journalism from Mr Maguire.
The title of the piece is misleading as it implies that Spurs didn’t do due diligence in going for the final.Nowhere in the article does it state why the game was awarded to Paris,only a summary of missed revenue generation.
It would have been more pertinent to list all the requirements from UEFA and show where we might have fallen short compared to the other bidders.
I’m certain that the football authorities will have wanted it to be played in the EU during the current situation. France or Germany would always get the gig, Being the ‘saviours of the free world’ that their political elite like to portray themselves…