Hearts and Hibs to miss out on sizeable windfall from possible Scottish Cup semi-final postponement

The Capital clubs are due to meet at Hampden Park next month

Hearts and Hibs are set to miss out on a cash windfall in April from the Scottish Cup semi-final.

The pair are set to meet at Hampden Park next month with a place in the final at stake.

However, with football in Scotland suspended for an indefinite period due to coronavirus, it is likely that the match won’t take place when it was scheduled for.

Hearts owner Ann Budge spoke about the windfall Hearts and Hibs could miss out on from the Scottish Cup. Picture: SNS

Hearts owner Ann Budge estimated that the match not being played will cost the club more than £500,000 in income. Hibs will likely have expected to bank a similar amount to their rivals.

The Easter Road side have already missed out on revenue from the home game with St Johnstone at the weekend and were set to host Celtic on 5 April in front of the TV cameras. The club’s CEO Leeann Dempster outlined the club’s stance.

Both clubs have had to cancel community events they put on.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Budge said: “We have four home fixtures. In terms of income from the club, that is well over half a million pounds. We’re in a semi-final, in terms of income to the club, well over half a million pounds.

“So in the blink of an eye, £1million that we anticipated having as income for April has gone. That is a huge impact on any club, and all clubs will have similar problems. Maybe not to the same extent but that’s money we thought we would have that we won’t have.

“Add to that we have spent a lot on infrastructure. Why? So we can actually run events and have an income stream outside of football. We can’t run events anymore.

“There’s no point in me pretending, this is a serious situation.”