Tottenham Hotspur have one of the best football stadiums in the world, but it didn’t come cheap. Now, a member of the club’s board has... The post Spurs director explains how the club financed the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium appeared first on The Spurs Web - Tottenham Hotspur Football News.
Tottenham Hotspur have one of the best football stadiums in the world, but it didn’t come cheap. Now, a member of the club’s board has offered an insight into the financial aspects of the construction.
Speaking to Business of Sport, Non-Executive Director on the Tottenham board, Jonathan Turner, has discussed in great detail the nature of the loans and debts that the club incurred to get the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium built.
He said: “Matthew Collicott, our finance director, just did an amazing job on the financing of the stadium. The stadium was financed through internally generated cash flow, and also through debt. And the debt is on a very long term basis.
“A lot of it is held by pension funds and other institutions who are comfortable holding long term debt. The stadium was built in a low interest rate environment. We have a fixed rate on the vast majority of that.
“So the service cost of the debt, and the long term nature of the debt, was an incredible financing package that wouldn’t be available today. It would be incredibly hard to build the stadium today for the cost that it was built.”
Turner insists the debt is not an issue, adding: “We’re very comfortable that we can service costs, then everything else is about trying to develop the revenue line of the business so that you can take the profit and put it into the team.
“It’s actually relatively straightforward. If you were going to do it today, construction costs are higher, inflation is higher, cost of interest is higher. It would be a much harder exercise.”
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium opened its doors in April 2019, and boasts a capacity of 62,850.
With state-of-the-art facilities and furnishings, and a retractable pitch, it has become a desirable venue for various other sporting events ranging from NFL games to boxing matches, and also hosts musical concerts, too.
All of this has led to a successful and sustainable revenue stream helping Spurs build a strong financial footing.
Spurs Web Opinion
I won’t pretend to understand the intricacies of the arrangement Spurs have in place to finance the stadium, but it sounds like it’s all in order and was a good deal for the club both short-term and long-term.
The post Spurs director explains how the club financed the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium appeared first on The Spurs Web - Tottenham Hotspur Football News.
