Cancelling football season could cost Europe’s top clubs four billion euros
Europe's top five football leagues could lose as much as four billion euros ($4.33 billion, 3.75 billion pounds) in combined revenue if the coronavirus pandemic completely wipes out the rest of the season, according to a study by KPMG.
The accounting firm, one of the world's biggest, calculated the total potential matchday, broadcasting and commercial revenues set to be generated by the remaining matches in the Premier League, La Liga, German Bundesliga, Italy's Serie A and France's Ligue 1 added up to between 3.45-4 billion euros across the five leagues.
KPMG estimates England's Premier League would lose the most, with as much as 1.25 billion euros going up in smoke should the season be halted -- a potential 800 million euros of that in broadcasting revenue alone.
"Broadcasters who have collective deals with leagues may claim that they want the money back proportionally if matches are cancelled and the season is not completed," said the report.
The Premier League's broadcasting revenue losses would be the highest despite having fewer games left to play than every other league apart from the Bundesliga, which has the lowest number of teams at 18.