Speaking purely objectively here and not because they're our rivals, I suspect Liverpool (like
@catcherintherye has said) amongst others will feel the pinch.
I'm not saying they rely on their large match-day incomes, but the money they generate from gate-receipts, corporate revenue, merchandise and sponsors is hefty.
The more a club makes on match days, the more they have to lose if playing games behind close-doors becomes protracted - potentially a fair few months.
Ultimately, it'll boil down to what percentage of their match day revenue they rely on for core finances (wages and repaying loans etc.), but they will feel it.
It may simply be they can't spend as they had planned to do over the next season two or the worst case scenario (for them!) they will have to offload some assets.
I would suspect that the likes of Manure, Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea will feel it too although some may have large reserve sums (or backers) to cover the cost.
That's obviously PL clubs by the way because I think we all know that the lower leagues are really going to suffer from this because it is a pivotal revenue stream!
This is a really difficult discussion. How are we defining "best position" out of this mess? Who falls the least? Who can re-emerge with the highest turnover, or the smallest debt, who is going to go through most transformational change, who is going to be at the bottom of the league, who is going to see their spending power fall the most, who is going to have owners who won't help them through this process, who is going to show the biggest loss of revenue in either short/long term, who is going to post the biggest debts etc etc? All of the above will probably give you different answers, so it's a really difficult question to answer categotically.
My own assumptions from this would be;
1) Clubs with the highest wage bills are most exposed. Thats the biggest expense, and it's one that is very difficult to reduce
2) TV revenue will be the most secure form of revenues over the forthcoming periods. TV companies get the most back from the money they put in (product, in a tie when product is desperately needed and we are short of it).
3) Clubs who rely more on gate money and sponsorships are more exposed. It may be a year until we can start to open grounds. Sponsors are not paying now. Re-commencement may not see them being willing or able to re-enter those contracts. I would imagine there are break clauses that allow this to happen.In the US they have Great Depression levels of unemployment, and most sponsors are in the US. when their economy tanks (this is just first phase) companies will be belt tightening.
4) Owners view of a football club will be critical in the forthcoming period. All clubs will need support, and frankly every club will be in a loss. Those who have shown a willingness to pump money in are most likely to do this. In the impending chaos, those who want to buck the trend could do very well from this. Owners who see it more as an investment portfolio may well act as a further rock on their clubs. Particularly those in America, where their economy is going to be badly affected. They may start to utilise their English investments to help stabilise their portfolio's in America.
5) Clubs who rely on trading players for profit are going to be in big trouble with collapsing prices. That could be clubs who sell to the PL selling upwards. It could also be clubs that tend to collect young players, and send dozens out on loan with the hope they sell them on for a greater fee and thus showing an increase in book value. For the next couple of years, their won't be the money to even pay their wages, nor any sort of fee at the end of it. There will also be more attractive loans available.You could be left having 60+ pros, on reasonable contracts you can't shift.
I can't say much more than that really. People can read into the above as they wish. It can play out in different ways, and the specifics may vary, but the broad trends will probably be in place. The idea that all clubs suffer equally is untrue. All clubs will suffer certainly, but it's not an equal process.
Even without Moshiri Everton would not be the worst placed on the criteria above. We would hope that there is either a uniform wage reduction agreement, and ideally one that allowed contracts to be broken. With Moshiri, we could be quite well placed.
