Brighton count £25m loss for playing without crowds

Brighton chief executive, Paul Barber, has said the impact of not having fans at the Amex for the last year has cost the club £25m in revenue.

It is exactly 12 months since the last top-flight game was played in front of a full stadium, with clubs across the pyramid counting the significant financial damage of playing in empty stadiums during lockdown.

Barber said Brighton are considering ways to generate money, including hosting events at the Amex in the summer, but for now remain “grateful” they have been able to keep playing football during lockdown.

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“It’s probably cost us in excess of £25m to be without fans for the year,” Barber told Sky Sports News.”It’s been a tough year, but it has been for everybody. We’ve been grateful, however, that we’ve been able to carry on playing. We completed last season and hope to complete this one too.

“Hopefully we’ve now got a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully fans will come back to watch matches again in good numbers as soon as we can.”

Brighton have not cut any jobs during the pandemic, and while Barber says that remains their plan, he added it could be important to find new ways to create revenue for when games aren’t being played.