Tottenham poised to cash in from idea masterminded by Amanda Staveley as £1.6bn deal done

News of Amanda Staveley’s interest in investing in Tottenham first emerged in July last year – Spurs have been on a rollercoaster since then.

In truth, it has been less loop-the-loop and more a plunge from a great height, though last night’s victory over Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League means there will be an adrenaline-fuelled climax in Bilbao.

It will be curious to see what a European trophy would do for Daniel Levy and his legacy in North London.

Tottenham fans have been starved of silverware for 17 years, but will they accept a potential 17th-place Premier League finish in the same season as the cost of doing business?

For Ange Postecoglou, that is the ultimate question. But the fact that many Spurs fans are still behind the manager is emblematic of the mood shift in N17 in recent months and years.

Through a nearly two-decade cycle of hope and despair, the common denominator has been the suits, not the managers. Levy and ENIC have therefore absorbed more of the venom this season.

The owners can’t even cling to the fact that the club is self-sufficient anymore. Spurs are spending more than they earn.

Cash fell for the third season in a row in 2023-24. That was despite the fact that the wages-to-turnover fell to a historic low of 42 per cent and most of their transfer business was done on tick – Tottenham owe £337m in transfer instalments in total.

The owners’ lack of risk appetite is partly why reports that Staveley wanted to invest in Spurs inspired such optimism in North London.

At Newcastle, where she brokered the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s controversial takeover in 2021, Amanda Staveley was the public face of an ownership regime that spent to its absolute limit.

Levy has freely admitted that Spurs need and are actively courting external investment, though things have gone quiet in recent months. There was no mention of the search in the club’s recent accounts.

Has Staveley walked away? If so, the club will have lost out on an operator known for her vision, as evidenced by the latest developments in football finance.

• READ MORE: Fabio Paratici agrees terms over Tottenham return and will have ‘final say’ on one major Spurs decision

Amanda Staveley idea comes to fruition, Tottenham to benefit from new Premier League deal

The Premier League is a titan when it comes to the value of its media rights.

The latest rights cycle, which officially begins from next season, is worth just shy of £1.7bn per year and £6.7bn over the full four-year contract. This season, Spurs will earn around £120m from Premier League media rights despite their position in the table.

But while the Premier League’s TV deal is significantly higher than any of its counterparts and behind only the NFL and NBA in terms of the overall annual value of its rights, the figure has plateaued somewhat in recent years.

When she was at Newcastle, Staveley was part of the contingent trying to arrest this fizzling out. One of her roles was as part of the Rights, Access and Facilities Framework, a Premier League body established to try and eke out more value from their rights.

Among the group’s ideas was to give broadcasters greater behind-the-scenes access. Now, it looks like that may be coming to fruition.

The Premier League has written to Spurs and their peers to try and convince them to facilitate more access to players and managers next season.

As reported by The Guardian, the proposals include:

• Dressing room access: Allow broadcasters to film inside the dressing room at two home games per season
• In-game player interviews: Option for a half-time interview with a player or substituted player during the match
• Camera-on-pitch access: Crews allowed onto the pitch to film goal celebrations and post-match reactions using Steadicams.

The Premier League will hope that Spurs vote in favour of the proposals, with the blessing of 14 clubs required to carry the motion.

• READ MORE: Fabrizio Romano shares what Xabi Alonso has decided after claims Tottenham want him to replace Ange Postecoglou

The latest with Amanda Staveley’s plans to invest in Tottenham

News on Staveley and her PCP Capital Partners investment vehicle’s interest in Spurs has gone cold.

The last real update Tottenham fans had came in December, when Staveley confirmed that she was in talks with a club regarding a potential investment.

She stopped short of namechecking Spurs directly, though likely because of an NDA.

Levy’s £3.75bn valuation of Tottenham is believed to be a sticking point. With Staveley said to have raised £500m, that would only get her a small fraction of the club’s equity, which in turn would not give her a great deal of operational control.

Given that she says she wants a hands-on role when she re-enters football, that might make Spurs – where Daniel Levy is omnipresent – a less than ideal proposition.

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