Dr Dan: Arsenal set for ‘£3m’ hammer blow after Government reveal on Wednesday
Arsenal could take a £3million hit as the international football tourism industry suffers in the coming months.
So says finance expert Doctor Dan Plumley, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the new Government-imposed restrictions at sporting events.
Fans are now required by law to show proof of vaccination or a negative lateral flow test to gain admission to stadia, as relayed by The Times last Wednesday (8 December).
London has by far the lowest vaccination rate in the country, as well as the highest rate of football tourism.
Plumley predicts that the Government’s new measures could stifle attendances among some demographics at the Emirates.
“It’s really difficult to resource and police the vaccine passports thing,” the Sheffield Hallam University expert told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“But you can do a lateral flow test, so it doesn’t necessarily deter unvaccinated domestic fans.
“The international angle is interesting. It might mean the football tourist trade takes a little bit of a hit.
“Arsenal in a normal season make about £4m per matchday. Any hit is going to be multiplied by the number of games that are hit.
“So you might be looking at £2m or £3m over the course of X amount of games. Those are the kind of numbers we are working on.”
Arsenal earned £109.2m in matchday income in the last non-Covid campaign, 2018-19.
The Gunners face fellow London club West Ham in their next home match tomorrow night (15 December).
In other news, pundit excited as Arsenal line up Nicolas Pepe upgrade after agent reveal.