What £1bn in Lost Revenue for Premier League Clubs Actually Means & How Matches Will Look Following Restart

Premier League clubs face missing out on combined lost revenue of up to £1bn this season as a result of the coronavirus crisis, with accountancy firm Deloitte expecting ‘significant revenue reduction and operating losses’ across European football as a whole.

Premier League clubs pulled in a collective £5.2bn in revenue for the 2018/19 season, but Deloitte’s 2020 Annual Review of Football Finances projects a drop in revenues to £4.3bn in 2019/20.

Much of that drop will be from lost broadcast revenue and Deloitte predicts that while over £500m will be recognised in 2020/21 instead, which will make for a bounce back next season, almost another £500m worth of revenue clubs would have earned will be lost ‘permanently’.

The bounce back will be dependent upon the 2019/20 season being completed, as is the hope for ‘Project Restart’ which is due to get underway on 17 June. Because of the way 2019/20 revenue has flowed into 2020/21, Deloitte estimates the ‘new normal’ in figures won’t be seen until 2021/22.

That would include any long-term changes brought on by the crisis.

How Games Will Look Once ‘Project Restart’ Has Begun

As the Premier League prepares for games to restart in less than a week, officials and clubs are working through the finer details that will dictate protocol on matchday.

BBC Sport writes that heart-shaped NHS badges will be worn on shirts, while the previously proposed minute-silence in honour of NHS staff and coronavirus victims is expected to take place before each of the first round of games.

Hygiene standards will obviously be much stricter, with goal posts, corner flags, substitution boards and match balls to be disinfected before and after every game. The substitution board could even be disinfected before and after each use during games as a further precautionary measure.

The tunnel and pitchside will be subject to capacity limits to minimise risks of unnecessary contact.

The Daily Mail further explains that two tunnels will be used if a stadium has that facility. Otherwise, away teams will use the tunnel first, followed by home teams and then officials, all in an effort to limit the number of people in the enclosed space at any one time.

Benches are expected to be larger in order to allow substitutes and staff to sit further away from each other. Even pre-match tactical briefings that would require a whole squad to gather closely in a confined dressing room will be subject to a 15-minute time limit.

For more from Jamie Spencer, follow him on Twitter and Facebook!