New Everton Stadium Discussion

[Brennan]

It baffles me that people are still looking to capacity of the stadium as a measure of club ambition.

I can only assume those people also asked their bank manager for a mortgage that was 10x their family income.

 

[Baileyjon]

People often cite that we could have a higher capacity filled with lower prices, but don't factor in that a larger capacity stadium cost significantly more money.

It's previously been mentioned on here that the difference in cost between the adding forty to fifty thousand and adding an extra ten-thousand plus seats...

... to make it to sixty would be disproportionately expensive. Filling those extra seats with cheaper tickets simply isn't a sensible business idea, at all.

Put simply, we need to have the demand to fill the stadium rather than hoping to fill it by lowering our prices. We also have to be able to afford the build costs.

West Ham being mentioned is irrelevant as they have a stadium which costs them a pittance (no extensive build cost etc.) so they can afford to. We can't.

That is a really good post. As you have pointed additional seats are very expensive to build because basically they are 100ft+ up in the air which means you have build up and out which is very costly. The other problem is that you can't charge premium prices for them because of the poor view and are likely to go unsold for games in which you don't sell out.

The other problem is that there is less incentive to buy season tickets. With modern life people have diverse commitments often work related that prevent them from getting to games. I know from personal experience that at the moment with cheap season tickets especially if you are taking your kids that it is worthwhile paying for a season ticket knowing I will miss games.

The prices are very reasonable at the moment and with our capacity and demand for tickets it makes sense to buy a season ticket and miss games. However if the prices go up at BMD and tickets are easier to come by then it wouldn't take much for me and my family to become more selective about going the game.

It is much better to limit supply and keep it below demand.

 

[GwladysBlue]

The state of this tiny stand. What is with us and wanting small stands behind the goal? Just another Park End shoebox.

Also, does anyone actually want wooden seats in our new stadium?!

 

[The binman chronicles]

The state of this tiny stand. What is with us and wanting small stands behind the goal? Just another Park End shoebox.

Also, does anyone actually want wooden seats in our new stadium?!

The size of that stand is dictated by the the size of the plot. It is squared off at the ends as that is the boundary line.

 

[Baileyjon]

The extra capacity is not really about the extra income generation. Math day takings are dwarfed by commercial income. Build a great stadium, build a great team, then commercials will increase

That is madness though. That is a bit like saying buy a big house, drive a flash car and a top job that will pay for it all is bound to come along. Commercial revenue is largely driven by how successful you are on the pitch. In the vast majority of cases being successful on the pitch is driven by investing in your squad in terms of transfers and wages. Building a vanity Stadium that has the potential to become a millstone around the Clubs neck is not the way to build a great team.

I would much rather we built a Stadium than we can fill week in week out, build the fan base, get the fans used to paying more and then expand gradually. It is a much safer way to go. It gives us greater revenues to invest in the team in the short term and it allows us to compete.

 

[GwladysBlue]

The size of that stand is dictated by the the size of the plot. It is squared off at the ends as that is the boundary line.

I’m sure we could go bigger, but then we wouldn’t have the UK’s biggest screen .

The stuff we try to claim as unique, is just truly dull.

 

[The binman chronicles]

People often cite that we could have a higher capacity filled with lower prices, but don't factor in that a larger capacity stadium cost significantly more money.

It's previously been mentioned on here that the difference in cost between the adding forty to fifty thousand and adding an extra ten-thousand plus seats...

... to make it to sixty would be disproportionately expensive. Filling those extra seats with cheaper tickets simply isn't a sensible business idea, at all.

Put simply, we need to have the demand to fill the stadium rather than hoping to fill it by lowering our prices. We also have to be able to afford the build costs.

West Ham being mentioned is irrelevant as they have a stadium which costs them a pittance (no extensive build cost etc.) so they can afford to. We can't.

The argument for is that I doubt we would need to give away the tickets like West Ham have to fill the extra seats. They might well be cheaper (generally) but for games against the top sides they would probably provide more income as you could probably charge £45+ for the day trippers and fans that see a few games a season. You have to remember that the season tickets average out to what 20-25 a ticket? So a good chunk can be made from these.

That extra 10k may also spend a fiver each, so just from the top 6 games you could conservatively be looking at an income of £3 million. If you are getting an extra 2 or 3 million from the rest of the games - probably more when you add in cup games then it doesn't take long to pay for itself. 20 years down the line and you are talking hundreds of millions to do the same that might cost an extra 50 million now.

If from this 52k, 4k are executive/premium seats, we have 8k GA to fill which we will with no problems, so why not try 5 or 8k more? People seriously underestimate our fan base.

 

[The binman chronicles]

I’m sure we could go bigger, but then we wouldn’t have the UK’s biggest screen .

The stuff we try to claim as unique, is just truly dull.

You could go bigger but you would have to move the pitch back to do so. Then our home end becomes smaller or they need permission to have it overhanging Nelson dock.

 

[GwladysBlue]

You could go bigger but you would have to move the pitch back to do so. Then our home end becomes smaller or they need permission to have it overhanging Nelson dock.

We need to make the ground bigger, 52k is just not enough. We all know it and the club knows, too.

 

[The binman chronicles]

We need to make the ground bigger, 52k is just not enough. We all know it and the club knows, too.

I don't mind if the club come out and say this is all we can afford so it is 52k. That is fair enough. I just get irritated by the we'll never fill 60k brigade. Even if some matches there is 55k, so what?

 

[Simon (brum)]

People often cite that we could have a higher capacity filled with lower prices, but don't factor in that a larger capacity stadium cost significantly more money.

It's previously been mentioned on here that the difference in cost between the adding forty to fifty thousand and adding an extra ten-thousand plus seats...

... to make it to sixty would be disproportionately expensive. Filling those extra seats with cheaper tickets simply isn't a sensible business idea, at all.

Put simply, we need to have the demand to fill the stadium rather than hoping to fill it by lowering our prices. We also have to be able to afford the build costs.

West Ham being mentioned is irrelevant as they have a stadium which costs them a pittance (no extensive build cost etc.) so they can afford to. We can't.

The club could invest in the future by filling the extra seats by enticing the next generation of fans with free match day tickets that would have gone begging to under 12s .

 

[PhilM]

The argument for is that I doubt we would need to give away the tickets like West Ham have to fill the extra seats. They might well be cheaper (generally) but for games against the top sides they would probably provide more income as you could probably charge £45+ for the day trippers and fans that see a few games a season. You have to remember that the season tickets average out to what 20-25 a ticket? So a good chunk can be made from these.

That extra 10k may also spend a fiver each, so just from the top 6 games you could conservatively be looking at an income of £3 million. If you are getting an extra 2 or 3 million from the rest of the games - probably more when you add in cup games then it doesn't take long to pay for itself. 20 years down the line and you are talking hundreds of millions to do the same that might cost an extra 50 million now.

If from this 52k, 4k are executive/premium seats, we have 8k GA to fill which we will with no problems, so why not try 5 or 8k more? People seriously underestimate our fan base.

Alternatively, I feel that people often overestimate our fan base or at least the level of disposal income that a large percentage of our fans may have.

We're a loyal lot but adding an extra 50% capacity and expecting to fill it, while at a reasonably priced ticket to cover the costs, simply doesn't add up to me.

Don't get me wrong, I would love a sixty-plus thousand seater stadium but thinking realistically, I can't expect us to fill it while generating the income to cover it.

The only way to really fill such a stadium would be to increase our global profile (attracting the tourist fans) and I think that only really comes with success.

The club could invest in the future by filling the extra seats by enticing the next generation of fans with free match day tickets that would have gone begging to under 12s .

But the ultimate question is whether such an approach is sustainable and will it be likely to bring revenue in the future to cover the additional build costs?

As previously mentioned on numerous occasions, the additional ten thousand seats that people are demanding are disproportionately more costly than the rest.

For our owner and the financiers who'll help fund the stadium, the idea of adding potentially an extra £50-100m - along with interest - with no incomes seems rash.

Or at least I expect that's their opinion if you consider the size they're talking about: why wouldn't they want a bigger stadium unless it simply wasn't viable?

 

[Frang]

Kings Dock had a planned capacity of 55,000. That was during a time when we were one of the worst teams in the division.

Now, we’re supposedly an ambitious club and we have sold out every home game for two seasons on the run.

What has changed in 16 years to make us want to build a smaller stadium?

a brand new very un ambitious owner... hes here to make 100's of millions.. hes not interested in on pitch performance or huge stadiums.

hes already sold all our best players.

lets see what happens this summer.

 

[Armaghtoffee]

I want proper cider at the pumps. Not some sugared abortion made with apple peel and chemicals.

The alcohol range and pricing is diabolical. Sort your shiz out Evv and people might consider calling a halt to their crusade of hidden cans and class A's.

Put Wetherspoons bars in every stand.

Tory.

 

[The binman chronicles]

As previously mentioned on numerous occasions, the additional ten thousand seats that people are demanding are disproportionately more costly than the rest.

That is if you believe that garb. I don't subscribe to it myself. If you were to start from scratch and you need a plot of land which is x size for a 50k and then x larger for a 60k or you need to build another tier for these seats then I would kind of understand the disproportionate claim. Our plot is already big enough and 5k more is about 5 rows added to the top of the stands. Are those 5 rows going to cost any more to build than the 5 below them?