There was a video of a Spurs fan doing the rounds when the stadium was first opened to the public, with one guy looking around in a bewildered, mesmerized stupor. This man could literally not believe his eyes. He was clearly welling up, the dam was about to burst. He was having an out-of-body experience.
I never thought I could experience such feelings. Then I read this morning’s papers. William Pugh and Alex Miller for The Sun have some stupefying analysis of Tottenham’s financials – which may go a long way to explaining why Mr. Levy was so ruthlessly fast in furloughing all his non-playing staff.
- Tottenham’s total debt up to £852million
- £215million of the bill is composed of interest
- Some debts will still be outstanding until 2050
- Repayments will average £37m-a-year until 2042
- Over the last 5 years, only £21m-a-season was spent on transfers
The odds of a global pandemic were remote, and in the UK only Wimbledon took out the appropriate insurance, and so it would be unreasonable to chide Levy for not being fully prepared, although the Lawn Tennis Association only paid £1.5million per year in premiums… which looks like loose change in the mix when looking at the numbers above.
What ENIC has done though, is put Spurs in a position where it could become vulnerable to external factors. Guns N’ Roses have cancelled, as to has the Joshua fight.
Opinion
We had a perfectly good stadium, and enough money in the bank to back Pochettino.
ENIC opted to demolish the ground and stamped on Poch’s dreams.
Famous last words but the global thirst for the Premier League will only continue to rise and so will the tv revenue. In 2030, £37m average repayments will be a small drop in the ocean. The next 5 years will be interesting that is for sure. 18 months of that will be trying to get back in the top 4. By then Newcastle will be up there with us. Everton with Usmanov’s money won’t be far behind either. 4 places to be competed by at least 9 teams (Wolves and Leicester could well remain up there). It’s going to be crowded at the top.
That’s fair comment. We don’t know the intentions yet for investing in the team.
It was more of a tongue in cheek comment that I’ve been waiting since 2000 when ENIC got involved. Waiting 20 years has been at times painful, interspersed with some great memories and only one trophy. I know at present the financial situation is bleak, but football will come back. Only then can we as fans see how serious this club is in investing in the football side of things.
It’s not pain in the short term – even accounting for the repayments we will be ahead.
We’ll win loads of stuff within the next 20 years. Trust us.
Short term pain (20 years and counting) for long term gain. When I am long dead at least my beloved Spurs will be rocking it.
All we need is one BIG cup. (Which Jose will win) then the proper big money will start pouring in.
In a purely financial sense, and putting the pandemic to one side for a moment, I look at it like this:
Old stadium revenue: £45m
New stadium revenue potential: c. £150m
Potential extra revenue: c. £105m
Debt repayments: £37m
Net increase in revenue: £105m – £37m = £68m.
So it’s like being offered: ‘Would you like the old stadium and x revenue, or the new one with £68m extra every season?”
My answer would be to take the new stadium and the extra money – and invest it in the team.
This is not news, we all know how a mortgage works and we knew there was £525m of debt which we were paying back over 25 years or so, and that there will inevitably be some interest. I read the article in the Sun, and what the write in there that is omitted here is the fact that despite the fact we have £37m interest every year to pay back, that will be more that covered by the extra revenue the stadium makes. Of course there will be lost revenue with the current Pandemic, but this is a temporary setback. Once the crowds come back, we’ll be back in business. Levy or no Levy, the stadium will be great for us in the long term.
The whole thing has been an unedifying shambles.
Hahahahahahha
Most companies can sack ceo or directors who dont hold controlling shares.. Unless its written into a pre contract agreement.. Can’t see levy sacking himself, and unless theres a big fall out with uncle joe then hes only making him money. Joe doesnt care about football either… Its job well done according to those two thats all they are in it for… The money.. Not the glory.. Note the clubs in debt, nott enics profits.. Levys a billionaire now according to forbes.. A thousand million spondoolies.
Almost as much as Levys net worth… Any ceo or boss of any company or business should never be allowed to bankrupt a business or leave it in crippling debt, all the while making a fortune for themselves, millionaires, billionaires… The fact this man has done it to our club begs belief.
So on top of his bungling in the transfer market, sacking ten managers during his tenure which will also have cost the club a fortune in compensation, and managing to win one League Cup in twenty years, the club is saddled with £850 mill of debt. His reputation as a financial wizard is unravelling quickly. As he has admitted, he doesn’t even like football. So coupled with the revelation that he is not the financial genius he has been made out to be, this begs the question, what is the point of Levy? Imagine how much money the club would save on his salary alone if he was sacked? Don’t think that Joe Lewis isn’t capable of doing it.
Thank God for our world class youth academy.
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Somewhere out there, there’s an insurance bod who dealt with Levy, and who has a great anecdote.
But he’s a financial genius,how dare you criticise the only chairman in the PL who is worth his 6M per annum.
Seriously though I still think the majority of fans don’t grasp the severity of the club’s position.If,as is more likely than not,we miss out on CL this season then that could be it for us for many years.The financial constraints will hamper us more than other clubs in an ever increasingly competitive league.
It’s pretty obvious from the way Levy operates that the debt repayments will always take precedence over any investments in the team.When ENIC’s social engineering is complete Levy will need the club’s debt to be acceptable to any prospective purchaser,before ENIC walk off into the sunset laughing at the mugs they have turned over.As he has publicly stated he doesn’t care about the football,it’s not personal just business.