Premier League giants Manchester United have faced a loss of a whopping £21.6 million in the first three months of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Matchday sales shrank to £1.6 million as compared to the last year’s sales that stood at £29.1 million. The lockdown and the absence of fans at the stadium have affected matchday revenue.
The total revenues of the club also reduced to 4.4% from last year with the Vice Executive Chairman, Ed Woodward saying that spectators were the “life blood of the game”. Woodward also revealed that the club is very much optimistic about the return of the fans to Old Trafford. Manchester United did have 10,000 fans for the final home league game against Fulham in May. The stadium has a total capacity of 75,000. United will be hoping that the capacity increases significantly at the start of next season.
The Red Devils also witnessed a 125.4% rise in broadcasting revenue in the quarter. This increase is due to additional five games that were played in 2021 compared to 2020. The Red Devil’s faced a major fall in matchday and retail, merchandising, apparel, and product licensing revenues as the club’s very own ‘Megastore’ retail outlet remain shut for a major period of time.
In short, United’s total revenue fell 4.4% to £118.3 million as said by the club itself. In April, Woodward also confirmed that he will step down from his post at the end of this year after he was heavily criticised by the fans as the club was a part of the European Super League fiasco.
The thirteen times Premier League winners finished second this season with 74 points in total. The Premier League announced the fixtures for the next season which starts from 14th August. Manchester United will play their first game of the next season against old rivals Leeds United at the Old Trafford. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is expecting to add at least two to three players to the first team during the summer transfer window with Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho emerging as the prime target.