Premier League, Chief Executive, Richard Masters, has laid bare one of the problems with telling his member clubs to stop using the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to pay non-playing staff who have been furloughed.
In a letter to the government’s DCMS Committee Chair, Julian Knight MP, seen by CaughtOffside, Masters noted his organisation were already feeling the pinch, just as many other organisations are, during what is a continuously evolving situation.
“We are losing revenue at an unprecedented level,” the letter stated. “[…] Premier League club finances are dependant upon the receipt of money from broadcast rights sales, distributed by the Premier League, as well as revenues generated by each Club from match day income and commercial sponsorships.
“With no matches being played, these resources have been temporarily halted.”
The letter also goes on to detail the work that the Premier League, its member clubs and players were doing in order to help the government in its drive to influence the public and keep them informed, and that has taken the form of social media messages, charitable initiatives and community assistance.
It will surely take time to find a solution that is workable for all parties in as much as it possibly can be, however, it’s abundantly clear that the longer there is no football being played, the bigger the financial burden on all concerned.