Andy Bunker and Randy McMichael were joined by 92.9 The Game Reporter Joe Patrick who talked about the economic impact not gate revenue will have on Major League Soccer, specifically Atlanta United.
“It’s going to be really tough for a lot of these teams because they do not make the TV money that these other leagues make…I think if you were to divvy it up even across the board, which is how I assume they would do it, the national TV deals. It would come to like four million dollars apiece for all these teams. We talk in baseball a lot about how these teams are reliant on gate revenue and in MLS that’s what so much of it is. So much of it is down to the revenue you are getting from the grass roots. So gate revenue, concessions, and all that kind of a thing,” Patrick responded when McMichael asked about the financial impact the last few months will have on the league.
Patrick continued, “When you think about a team like Atlanta United there probably affected more than anyone else. This team has been hitting attendance record after attendance record and business has been booming because of that. But when all of a sudden you strip that away and force to play these games without fans in the stands you are losing a lot of money.”