Corporate blow threatens Newcastle
Jun 2 2009 By Dan Warburton, The Journal
But Leeds United’s collapse in 2004, which saw them relegated from the Premiership, is said to have left hospitality businesses largely unaffected.
Joe Grindrod, the senior sports consultant from Leeds-based TD Sport and Travel, said: "I don’t thing things were necessarily affected by the relegation. With someone like Leeds, they’ve got such a big fan base that the business doesn’t change and Newcastle are similar in that respect, so they may not be too affected. They will probably need to reduce the costs and it is likely they will wait to see the fixture list before setting prices. They may categorise costs in terms of who they are playing.
"It will be more expensive to watch a game against Middlesbrough than it would at Blackpool."
Newcastle United’s kit sponsor Adidas last night refused to comment on whether they were predicting a projected fall in shirt sales.
But it is thought the club will be around £50m out of pocket after they were stripped of their Premier League status. Football finance expert Professor Tom Cannon, of Liverpool University, said relegated clubs would lose at least £13m in TV money alone in their first season in the Championship but the ultimate impact would be much higher.
He said: "It will obviously hit season ticket renewals.
"All the evidence I’m seeing is that season ticket renewals are down more than people expected.
"Then you’ve got to look at the fact that corporate hospitality and sponsorship, already threatened by the economic climate, will be further down."
Dr Anoop Nayak, of the school of geography, politics and sociology at Newcastle University, said relegation was likely to hit the city hard because football was such a key part of its identity.
He said: "That strong identity was forged at the coalface. Now, it’s found through consumption: football, being a party city, shopping.
"That might explain why people are so passionate about football. It is one of the mainstays of their identity."
