Tottenham Hotspur borrow £175million to help club shore through post-COVID-19 financial stress
According to the Guardian, Tottenham have borrowed £175million from the Bank of England as loan to help them through next year. This is in direct response to the financial crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The club could lose upwards of £200million in revenue in the period from the start of lockdown to June 2021. To offset this, the club has sought help from the government’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility.
The unsecured loan is repayable in full next April at a rate of 0.5%. Thankfully, the interest is low in commercial terms and Spurs could redraw it for another year.
Spurs have been especially hit by the pandemic as they had banked on revenue streams involving various events at their stadium. Apart from football matches, the stadium is also capable of hosting NFL, rugby, and concerts.
We have had to cancel a rugby union game between Saracens and Harlequins, Anthony Joshua’s world title fight against Kubrat Pulev, two NFL fixtures, and England versus Australia in the rugby league Ashes. Also, concerts from Guns N’Roses and Lady Gaga and the Capital Radio Summertime Ball are all now off the table. (h/t The Guardian)
A bridge too far?
Although football is set to resume this week, there is no news as to when spectators will be allowed back into the stadium.
Daniel Levy is eager to explore technological solutions that could help fans to come back to the stadium. He had earlier claimed that the fallout of the pandemic is the biggest crisis he has faced during his almost 20 years in the club.
It was announced last September that they had refinanced their stadium loans. It saw us £637million from Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and HSBC for the project. The money was due to be repaid by April 2022.
Levy also made use of US investors to convert about £525million of the debt into a bond scheme, with maturities of between 15 and 30 years. (h/t The Guardian)
More Tottenham Hotspur News
- Ralph Hasenhuttl drops hint over future of Tottenham Hotspur target Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
- Son Heung-Min glad to be back after “special experience”
- Tottenham Hotspur offered another shot at Matias Vecino
The club announced last season’s revenue at the start of the coronavirus crisis. It revealed total revenues of £460.7million and a post-tax profit of £68.6million.
Regardless of how one feels about it, Levy has built the club’s finances over the years. Hopefully, he will see us through this as well.
