Manchester United have reported staggering losses worth £30 million in the first quarter of 2021. According to the financial report produced by the club, matchday revenue has dropped to $2.2 million from $40 million in the past.
The majority of it can be attributed to the absence of fans from the stadium for the majority of the season. Moreover, their merchandise store at the stadium also remained closed which sealed off revenue streams from merchandise sales as well.
The Old Trafford stayed empty for the majority of the season, with the 75,000 seats at the stadium remaining vacant. United were allowed to host 10,000 fans during the final match days of the 20/21 season. And they will be allow to extend that number to 25% of the capacity from the beginning of the 21/22 season in August.
The total revenue earned by the club depleted by 4.4% to £118.3 million. However, broadcasting revenue spiked to 125.4% due to the massive number of people watching the games from home. Manchester United also announced in April that their chairman, Ed Woodward would be stepping down at the end of 2021.
As a whole, the Premier League reported a pre-tax loss of over £1 billion, which is the highest of all time. A similar figure was achieved in 19/20, and a 13% decrease in broadcasting revenue was charted due to the interruption of the season midway.
