News coming from behind-the-scenes at Tottenham could give them a Chelsea-style financial advantage in years to come.
Spurs and Chelsea are poles apart when it comes to the way their respective owners run their clubs.
Todd Boehly’s reign at Chelsea has been characterised by a bombastic approach in the transfer market and a creative approach to attempting to circumvent the ensuing PSR issues.
Spurs on the other hand, steered by chairman and co-owner Daniel Levy, emphasise financial prudence and long-term growth, leaving them well placed to navigate Premier League spending rules.
The North London side have a huge amount of PSR headroom, while Chelsea are – according to many analyses – on track to breach UEFA’s PSR model next season without significant changes.
Historically, the difference has not always been so pronounced. And the the latest developments are emblematic of the growing gap between the two clubs’ approaches.
Spurs could benefit from Chelsea-style property development
While UEFA’s more restrictive system might be an issue for Chelsea, the West London club are confident of complying with PSR for 2023-24.
The club has taken a number of measures to reduce the impact of their monumental spending in the transfer market – some more controversial than others.
One move that raised eyebrows among fans of rival clubs was the club’s sale of two on-site hotels at Stamford Bridge, a move which wiped £76m off their PSR calculation in one go.
The club have also sanctioned the sale of one part of their training ground, with speculation that they could eke back more PSR headroom via this route in the future.
Significantly, both of those sales were executed with other groups in Boehly’s network, meaning they were essentially taking money out of one pocket and putting it into the other for PSR purposes.
Spurs are taking a different approach.
It was revealed earlier this year that the club had been granted planning permission by Haringey Council for their own 29-storey on-site hotel.
Spurs are now free to start work on the development, which will be enormously lucrative for the club in the long term.
Infrastructure costs are exempt from PSR, but revenue generated from these projects is not, meaning Spurs will have another source of income from their already hugely lucrative stadium complex.
And although it seems like the remotest of possibilities at present, Spurs will eventually have an asset that they can sell if they ever find themselves in PSR trouble.
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How much do Spurs earn from their stadium?
Tottenham now expect to earn more than £100m in matchday income – gate receipts, catering, hospitality etc – every season.
In 2022-23, their matchday income totalled £118m. And that is before the commercial benefits of the stadium are even accounted for.
One way they could push the envelope in this department is via a stadium naming rights deal.
Levy has said that Spurs have elected not to take a naming rights deal yet because of the brand benefits to the club of having their name associated with the non-football events they host.
But with a branding deal potentially worth up to £150m over 10 years, it appears that this is a commercial opportunity too good to miss.