Concerts cancelled because of coronavirus could cost Leeds' three biggest music venues almost £30m in 12 months.
Leeds First Direct Arena, Leeds O2 Academy and Harewood House could lose an estimated £29,709,694 between March 2020 and March 2021, according to event planning website Eventopedia.
Hardest hit could be the biggest venue, the Arena, which could lose approximately £24m, mostly from lost ticket sales, from 35 cancelled concerts.
The city itself also stands to lose nearly £700,000 per cancelled arena concert in drinks, food and parking tickets which would have been purchased by gig-goers.
The O2 Academy could lose almost £3.2m from 37 cancelled gigs while Harewood House, which stages large outdoor shows, could lose approximately £2.4m from six 10,000-ticket concerts.
Leeds itself could lose an estimated £400,000 in drinks, food and parking tickets for each Harewood House concert cancelled and more than £86,000 for each axed Academy gig.
In London, each cancelled event at Wembley Stadium since March is estimated to have cost the city up to £5.85m.
Eventopedia CEO Toby Heelis said: "Smaller cities benefit more proportionally than the capital city from these types of events and as such, the restrictions and shutdowns have had a devastating impact.
"As many businesses have had to pivot to new revenue streams to survive the lockdowns, these cities need more help from the central government as we move forwards.
"The data here shows just how much the impact of these events filters down to all areas of the economy and community.
"When venues first closed, we needed more policies that contained the virus without the catastrophic impact to all people.
"Moving forwards, common sense and science should be used in equal measure to provide the right solution for everyone."
