Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has stated Leeds United could miss out on over £100m if they are not promoted to the Premier League.
The Whites were on course to secure promotion prior to the suspension of the Championship campaign due to coronavirus and, while the aim is for the remainder of the season to be played behind closed doors, there is still plenty of uncertainty.
Leeds will be desperate to be playing in the top-flight next season and, if they were to secure a return to the Premier League, their finances would be boosted significantly.
“If you take a look of their most recent accounts, they generated £49million worth of income of which TV deals was only £9million, so the vast majority of Leeds’ income is coming from matchday and commercial," he told Leeds Live.
"That £9million, I think you can add a couple of digits to that, they’ve got a potential £100million increase coming from each year in the Premier League from broadcast.
"They would be able to have an enhanced kit deal, they would be able to move to a more lucrative shirt sponsorship deal, so you put all those things together and for a club of Leeds’ stature, we’re looking at an increase in income, assuming a decent lower-table finish, we’d be looking at around £120million increase.
“However, that’s assuming that they’re playing in front of a paying audience. You’d have to knock something off for COVID because the noises that are coming out of football is that we’re unlikely to see football in front of a paying audience this year and I think there is a fair chance in the Premier League it could go for the whole of next season as well.
If Leeds were not to be granted promotion to the Premier League, or were unable to secure a spot after the resumption of the season, the hit they would suffer would be significant.
“For any club that misses out on promotion it’s an absolutely critical year because the noises coming out of football seem to be that League One and League Two, football might not be seen for the foreseeable future because the cost of hosting football exceeds the revenue that you’re going to generate.
“In the Championship it is pretty marginal so the longer this goes on, the less the benefits due to the fact of the TV income, so I think for Leeds’ owners that it is essential that they go up.
"They and West Brom are at the top of the table on merit, I don’t think anybody denies that, and they will lose at least £100million for not being promoted.”
