When Tottenham Hotspur play Manchester United on Wednesday in the Europa League, one of the two giant clubs will pick up a trophy in an otherwise disastrous season. There is also a small fortune riding on the match.
Victory in Bilbao will mean qualification to the Champions League next season, worth between £50 million and £100 million ($134 million) in broadcast and additional match-day revenue, and commercial deals. For the defeated team, there will be no European football at all next year.
#### Misfiring squad
The extra revenue for Manchester United, co-owned by UK chemicals billionaire Jim Ratcliffe alongside the Glazer family, would help the club navigate financial fair play rules and improve a misfiring squad. The team is languishing in 16th place in the Premier League.
Tottenham are just below in 17th, one place clear of the three relegation spots. But victory in the Europa League final — the second-best European competition behind the Champions League — could make a significant difference to its valuation as the London club looks for outside investment, according to bankers and investors involved in buying and selling football clubs.
Tottenham previously had an enterprise value of about €3.5 billion including debt, according to the consultancy group Football Benchmark. Its growth in valuation since 2016 has been the highest among Europe’s top ten teams, according to Football Benchmark founder, Andrea Sartori.
“Spurs have further grown in value since last year,” said Sartori. “They can afford to underperform on the field for a short period, but not for too long, as that would eventually lead to some form of devaluation.”
Its valuation has looked fragile as Tottenham’s season worsened and the team risked being sucked into a relegation battle. The club’s equity valuation — there are debts of around £1 billion associated with the stadium — is now hovering between £2 billion and £2.5 billion depending on Wednesday’s result, according to one investor who has previously looked at buying the club.
#### One of best run clubs, off the field at least
The club is seen by some as among the country’s best run, off the field at least. Under the stewardship of Chairman Daniel Levy, the club has built a state-of-the art stadium in north London which regularly stages music concerts, NFL games and boxing competitions.
Recently former Citigroup Inc. banker Peter Charrington, who is close to Tottenham’s majority owners the Lewis family, was appointed to the club’s board. The former chief executive officer of Tottenham’s north London rival Arsenal, Vinai Venkatesham, was also appointed as the team’s first ever CEO.
A spokesperson for Tottenham Hotspur declined to comment.
Over the past couple of years, investors including US billionaires and private equity funds have begun discussions to buy a stake in the club, with the end goal being full control. But talks have often broken down over its valuation.
Tottenham is one of the highest revenue-generating clubs in Europe, with £528 million in the season ending in June 2024 despite not competing in Europe. It should be higher this year given the team’s run to the Europa final.
Victory against Manchester United could push revenue up to more than £600 million next season, according to Kieran Maguire, a senior teacher in accountancy from the University of Liverpool who specializes in football finances.
Source: Bloomberg