Tottenham Hotspur relegation would be a financial disaster

March 31, Italian De Zerbi officially took over from Tudor as the new coach of Tottenham Hotspur. It is reported that he signed a five-year long contract with the club, and what is placed in front of De Zerbi is undoubtedly a super huge mess in today's football.

After losing to Nottingham Forest 0-3, Tottenham Hotspur have been winless in the Premier League for 13 consecutive games, and their direct relegation rival West Ham United have kicked Tottenham Hotspur into the relegation zone after playing one game more. Tonight's match against Sunderland is also De Zerbi's debut, and the only thing he can do is to get three points.

But if you are pessimistic, the worst case for Tottenham Hotspur is relegation after the end of the season; but there is a worse case, that is, once the club collapses financially, Tottenham Hotspur will fall into an abyss.

How does a top league team make money?

Broadcasting revenue

As the leader in the commercial value of world football, the Premier League officially announced in 2023 that after selling the broadcasting rights for the 2025-2029 season to skysport and TNT, and selling the highlights to BBC,  it will bring a total of 6.7 billion pounds in revenue in four years. The average annual broadcasting revenue can reach about 1.675 billion pounds,  while last season,  the Premier League's total broadcasting and commercial revenue reached 2.83 billion pounds , and the distribution model of this money is as follows: 50% basic income (equally divided by 20 teams) + 25% ranking bonus + 25% broadcasting game income (facility fee). The Premier League officially stated that this model ensures the fairness of fund distribution in the league.

Relevant data shows that Tottenham Hotspur received a fixed equal broadcasting share and commercial revenue of 96.9 million pounds last season; a floating broadcasting facility fee of 22.2 million pounds; in addition, Tottenham Hotspur only received a ranking bonus of about 11.3 million pounds due to ranking 17th. Official data shows that Tottenham Hotspur's broadcasting revenue last season was about 127 million pounds. It is worth mentioning that the transfer fees paid by Tottenham Hotspur in the summer window of 2025 for Simons, Kudus and Vuskovic have reached 120 million pounds , and the two amounts are just offset.

Wolves ranked one place higher than Tottenham Hotspur last season, but their broadcasting revenue was 123 million pounds, which was slightly lower than that of Tottenham Hotspur. The difference of tens of millions is mainly because  Tottenham Hotspur had 9 more live games in the UK than Wolves . After all, no broadcasting organization would give up the big6 and broadcast the relegation team instead (of course, Tottenham Hotspur is also a relegation team now).

Sponsorship and match day revenue

These two items are the main sources of income for a team. Let's take Tottenham Hotspur as an example again. According to the analysis report of the internationally renowned accounting firm Deloitte, Tottenham Hotspur's total revenue in the 24-25 season is about 580 million pounds, of which commercial sponsorship revenue is about 290 million pounds, and match day revenue is about 120 million pounds (almost the same as broadcasting revenue of 127 million pounds). Commercial revenue accounts for almost half of Tottenham Hotspur's total revenue, which includes sponsorships from AIA, Nike, BetMGM, Kraken and other partners.

Tottenham Hotspur's various revenues are directly related to their ability to participate in European competitions. In the 22-23 season, they participated in the Champions League, and their broadcasting revenue was the highest in the past five seasons; in the 24-25 season, they entered the Champions League through the Europa League title, and their commercial revenue was the highest in the past five seasons.

According to De Zhuan data,  Tottenham Hotspur earned 130 million pounds from match day ticket revenue alone last season , ranking 7th in Europe. Among them, high-end reception and VIP tickets are important sources of income. Match day ticket revenue consists of general tickets, season tickets, VIP tickets, box business reception and other aspects. Data released by Tottenham Hotspur's official website last season showed that  season ticket prices range from 428 to 2367 pounds , and once relegated, ticket prices may be cut in half. After all, the league is a performance of two teams, and the opponents have changed from Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and other powerhouses to Wrexham, Charlton and other Championship teams. How many fans will be willing to spend such a high price to buy tickets to watch a Championship game?

Crazy investment and sponsorship will backfire on the team after relegation

Henry Winter, a reporter for the British media talkSPORT, wrote on social media: "If Tottenham Hotspur is relegated, it will be one of the biggest news in the 34-year history of the Premier League. Relegation will cause at least 150 million pounds in financial losses to the team." This huge sum of money is undoubtedly a drop in the bucket, because Tottenham Hotspur itself owes a lot of money.

On March 31, Tottenham Hotspur officially announced the financial report for the 24-25 season. As of June 30, 2025, their net debt was 831.2 million pounds, an increase of nearly 60 million pounds compared to 2024 (772.5 million pounds). In order to ensure the normal operation of the team, more than 90% of Tottenham Hotspur's financial loans of 851.7 million pounds are at fixed interest rates, with an average interest rate of 3.07%. The average term of the loan is 17.6 years, and some loans will last until 2051. Such a loan model allows the team's signings, daily operations, expenses, etc. to proceed normally.

In fact, most of this huge debt comes from loans and financing for building a new stadium. Former Chairman Levy said in 2019: "You can't become a big club in a stadium that can accommodate 36,000 people, but you can become a big club in a stadium that can accommodate 62,000 people." As a perfectionist, Levy's move is indeed a necessary path for Tottenham Hotspur to become a big club.

Their new home, which was put into use in 2019, has not been named to this day. Tottenham Hotspur's business logic is very simple. This large stadium with more than 60,000 people is regarded as a machine for attracting investment. Boxing matches, NFL American football, F1 karting races, and concerts are staged here in turn, and the commercial value of this stadium has increased instead of decreased.

The financial report for last season also stated that Tottenham Hotspur's commercial sponsorship revenue and other revenue (including stadium events, tourist attractions, pre-season tours, and conferences, etc.)  increased to 277.1 million pounds  (255.2 million pounds in 2024). The increase in commercial revenue despite the poor performance is due to the collective sponsorship model (The Collective) launched by Chief Revenue Officer Ryan Norris, which allows the stadium to continue to be profitable, and the debt loopholes can be gradually filled. Although the books are not good, the overall situation is still manageable.

However, such a financial ecosystem needs to be built on the basis of a stable base. In short, the reason why Tottenham Hotspur can "absorb money" so much and rank ninth on the Forbes football wealth list is because their foundation has not been shaken. And this foundation is to be able to compete in the Premier League and have European competitions all year round; once relegated, everything else will be empty talk. Of course, Norris's business model can also be regarded as planning ahead.  He split the club into a sports company and an entertainment company . If the team is relegated in the worst case, the commercial revenue of the stadium can still achieve self-sufficiency. But such a short-sighted approach is like pulling weeds from a Michelin restaurant. The decoration is magnificent and the service is meticulous, but when you pick up your chopsticks and taste a bite of the dishes, you want to scold the chef because it is so difficult to eat.

In 2025, Levy wrote in the chairman's statement in the financial report: " Since the new stadium opened in April 2019, our net investment in player acquisitions has exceeded 700 million pounds.  Signing players is still a priority, and we must ensure that we sign players wisely within our economic capacity." It is not difficult to see between the lines that Tottenham Hotspur has been gritting its teeth to buy players in recent years. As the team's assets, players are an important part of the club's investment. But once the club is relegated, their high salaries will become a burden, and they will also become "commodities" that the club immediately sells to seek realization.

Leeds United can be said to have "been rich in the past". In 2001, they even reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, but they were relegated to the Championship 3 years later. The negative start in the 2007-2008 season sent the White Rose directly to League One. In just a few years, they were relegated in free fall, which should be "attributed to" the "leveraged investment" of the then chairman Ridsdale. He borrowed heavily from banks, and then used the borrowed loans to frantically sign players, pay high salaries, and even buy luxury cars for himself.  Ferdinand joined Leeds in 2000 for 18 million pounds, which set a record for the transfer of defenders at the time.  The transfer fees of Robbie Keane, Dacourt and Viduka, who joined at the same time, were also close to 10 million pounds.

This move is equivalent to a gamble. Ridsdale mortgaged the club's future 25 years of television broadcasting and ticket revenue to banks and insurance companies, totaling 60 million pounds. He believed that as long as he won the Premier League title and the Champions League spot, all debts would be solved. But after Leeds failed to win the league title and failed to qualify for the Champions League for two consecutive years, the sky fell. Helplessly, the insolvent Leeds could only sell players at bargain prices,  and even sold Elland Road Stadium and the training base, but only exchanged for a pitiful 4.2 million pounds.  The early splurge eventually became a heavy shackle for the club. The financial collapse made this veteran team lie dormant in the second and third leagues for 16 years before it recovered.

The "league elevator" is not afraid of relegation

Compared with the giants, the relegation specialists can face relegation more calmly. As Germany's famous "elevator", Bielefeld has experienced more than 10 promotions and relegations in German football. In the past 20 years, they have been floating 9 times from the Bundesliga to the third division. In the 2020-2021 season, they were promoted to the Bundesliga. Before the start of the season, the club's sports director Arabi said: " We will not take any economic risks, and we do not want to be in debt. Our Bundesliga budget for next season will be significantly lower than the budgets of second division teams such as Hamburg, Nuremberg, and Hanover."

Bielefeld has repeatedly jumped between the Bundesliga and the third division in the past 20 years

Eventually, they  only had a budget of 25 million euros  in this Bundesliga season, but the team miraculously achieved relegation. In Arabi's words: "This is a football fairy tale. It's like a rubber boat competing against 17 motorboats, and due to the coronavirus, this rubber boat is now leaking."

However, they were still relegated back to the second division after the end of the next season.  The club's debt was 12 million euros , which is quite a headache for a small club. But their advantage is that they take the mass line, and local companies help out. The "East Westphalia Federation" composed of 12 companies helped the team wipe out its debt. And this is not the first time they have overcome difficulties with the help of the masses. As early as 2017, Bielefeld's debt exceeded 25 million euros. Under the promotion of the then club's financial president Reyek, the "East Westphalia Federation" was established, and many local companies contributed to help the team achieve debt clearance. Reyek described: "We were already lying on the ground at that time, a stone's throw away from bankruptcy, just like Kaiserslautern."

The "2024-25 Season Second Division League Economic Report" officially released by the German Football League (DFL) shows that Bielefeld reduced its salary expenditure from 37 million euros to 16 million euros after relegation, a decrease of more than 56% ; signings are strengthened through free transfers, loans or promotion of youth training youngsters, almost achieving 0 transfer investment.  They will neither gamble for relegation nor invest crazily to attack the higher leagues.  They just do a solid job in youth training, maintain the community, and let the club survive.

The same business model is also staged in British football. Since the establishment of the Premier League, Norwich has completed  5 promotions and 6 relegations , making it the club with the most promotions and relegations in the history of the Premier League. The team has formed a stable cycle of "1-2 years in the Premier League → relegation → return to the Premier League after a few seasons".

In particular, the 3-year "parachute subsidy" is undoubtedly a timely help for Norwich. The 2024-2025 financial report of Norwich clearly shows that the team's total revenue for the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons was 75.6 million and 73.1 million pounds respectively; while their total revenue last season was only 39.3 million pounds . The three-year subsidy period has passed, and the revenue has been directly cut in half. This broadcasting share is a lifeline for the Canaries, and this money is an important fund for them to attack the Premier League, stay in the Premier League and even introduce players. In order to ensure the team's sufficient cash flow, they reduced non-competitive expenses from  4.8 million pounds in the 2022-2023 season to 2.3 million pounds.

Although it is not a black shop, Norwich is also very shrewd in business. In the 2018-2019 season, they were promoted from the Championship to the Premier League. Before the start of the season, in the summer window, the Canaries sold Maddison, who was introduced in 2016 for only  2.6 million euros, to Leicester City for 25 million euros ; the same operation also happened in the summer window of 2021. Norwich, who was about to compete in the Premier League, sold Buendia, who was introduced from Getafe for  1.5 million euros, to Aston Villa for 38.4 million euros.  Scratching lottery tickets, digging up young players and then selling them for cash has become their usual trick.

Maddison during the Norwich period

In addition, the Canaries Norwich is the only large club in Norfolk, eastern England, that has competed in the Premier League. Their ticket revenue is stress-free and has long formed a monopoly in the local area. The Carrow Road Stadium, which can accommodate 27,244 people, is often filled with more than 26,000 people even in the Championship. This small team has become the only football spiritual sustenance for local residents.

This mode of operating the team is not a show of weakness, but rather that the club can clearly position itself and find a suitable way to survive. Small teams with no debt may be able to cope more calmly with relegation than the giants.