Mark Catlin reveals shock cost of Portsmouth potentially shelving season ticket sales
Mark Catlin has revealed Pompey could lose out on up to £600,000 in season-ticket sales should football remain behind closed doors.
It’s uncertain when the 2020-21 campaign will start, particularly with discussions ongoing over the future of the present season.
While Pompey favour completing the remaining nine League One matches, other clubs are championing the scrapping the league programme entirely.
That will then leave the possibility of a play-off scenario to be fulfilled.
Further down the line, there are questions over when next season will kick off, particularly with fixtures potentially taking place without the presence of supporters for the foreseeable future.
And, in an interview with talkSPORT’s Jim White on Tuesday, Catlin recognised the considerable damage that would do to the Blues’ financial standing.
He told talkSPORT: ‘I can only really speak on behalf of Pompey, I don’t want to speak on behalf of other clubs.
‘We have a potential hole of £500-600,000 for season tickets, we have our sponsors, the loss of the Sky deal.
‘The players are getting a very small percentage of their salaries covered by furlough, even at this level, there are so many ingredients.
‘How can you go into next year selling season tickets in a few weeks when we haven’t completed this season satisfactorily? How can we sell season tickets moving forward not knowing?
‘I think we have a moral obligation to our sponsors and season ticket holders to try to complete.
‘There are those who have travelled up and down the country all year and put hard-earned cash into that.’
Pompey are keen for the current season to resume to strengthen hopes of automatic promotion.
However, there remains the safety net of the play-off system should clubs decide to follow League Two and end the campaign early.
Catlin added: ‘At this moment in time, it seems like the economy and football is starting to come out of hibernation.
‘It’s the wrong time to throw the towel in.
‘We should be giving it as much opportunity as we can to try to complete this season.’