Tottenham Hotspur lost up to £40m in funding in one day before the first news emerged that Manchester City had been found guilty of more than 100 charges.
Tottenham Hotspur are missing out on more than £40m by not hosting the heavyweight boxing fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, according to Professor Rob Wilson.
Both boxers have previously fought at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Fury facing Arslanbek Mahmudov there in April. Joshua was the first to do so for a world title fight against Oleksandr Usyk in September 2021.
But their fight at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff will take place on December 11. Tottenham’s 10.30pm curfew counted against it, with the main event set to kick off in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Wilson, Provost of the University’s Soccer Business Campus and Professor of Applied Sports Finance, told Betano Online Casino: “Not being able to host Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury goes beyond the basic question of stadium rent. It’s a fight that adds value multiple times.
“Yes, there’s the rental space, but you’re also talking about hospitality, food and beverage, sponsorship activations and other activities that an event like this will open up.
“Then there’s the more significant economic impact on activity outside the stadium, especially for a major event that brings international visitors and new money into the area.
“Wembley Stadium gives us the most interesting comparison because we know that for a boxing match it can hold 85,000-90,000 people compared to what Cardiff can host, which is a smaller capacity of 60,000.
“Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Old Trafford are certainly roughly comparable to Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in terms of conventional capacity, whether or not each venue is arranged in the same way.
“We can estimate that Old Trafford, Tottenham Hotspur and Wembley Stadium miss out on figures approaching £10m and then there is additional economic activity in the host city that will take place on the day of the event.
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“I’ve seen claims that WWE’s Clash At The Castle event in Cardiff adds around £22m to the Welsh economy and the event attracts around 62,000 spectators. I’m not sure of the exact figure but it works as a rough benchmark.
“Obviously Joshua vs Fury will be a bigger event and obviously there will be more spectators wanting to be in Cardiff than can fit into the stadium and there will be a huge increase in hotel demand especially because of the timing of the fight. The high proportion of people attending the fight, even coming to the city, will cost a lot of money to go to the fight and international visits.
“There will also be visitors from within the UK that can bring money to Cardiff, but really it’s a cycle of economic activity within the country. Joshua vs Fury will probably bring in over £25-30m in terms of additional economic activity around the Cardiff fight and you could argue that’s money London and Manchester are missing out on.”