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Arsenal chief reveals two things Gunners want to do at Emirates Stadium expansion as £4.1bn plan cited

It was 2002 when Arsenal received planning permission for the Emirates Stadium. Back then, football – and specifically football finance – was a very, very different ball game.

Arsenal were at the height of an era-defining Premier League rivalry with Manchester United, who at that stage had been the richest club in the world by revenue for eight successive years.

Moving away from Highbury in favour of the Emirates Stadium was supposed to generate the revenues that would allow them to compete while retaining their self-sufficient model.

But in 2003, Roman Abramovich arrived at Chelsea and rewired the football finance ecosystem. Suddenly, Arsenal and their peers had a competitor willing and able to spend well beyond what they earned.

Photo by Kirby Lee/Getty Images
Photo by Kirby Lee/Getty Images

That led to an arms race in the transfer market. Fees and wages spiralled across the division and Arsenal, who were managing the debt from the construction of the Emirates, were left behind.

Matchday income wasn’t that important anymore when clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City could spend freely without concern for the bottom line.

Fast forward to 2025 and the Stan Kroenke regime have been forced to run the club at a loss just to catch up. Arsenal haven’t turned a profit since 2017-18.

But now, in the era Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), which were introduced in the early 2010s but have only really started to bear their teeth in recent years, matchday income is important again.

Infographic explaining the PSR (Profit and Sustainability Rules, formerly known as FFP) for Premier League, Championship and UEFA clubs
PSR infographic. Credit: Adam Williams, GRV Media

Manchester United are going to build a new stadium. Tottenham and Everton’s new grounds are finished. Liverpool and Man City have both surpassed the 60,000 mark. Chelsea, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Leeds want to do the same. Evidently, what you earn through the turnstiles is big business once more.

For their part, Arsenal are perhaps uniquely well positioned to take advantage.

They are situated in one of world football’s most desirable postcodes, with ample scope to exploit tourists and the corporate hospitality sector. Arsenal are in the ascendancy under Mikel Arteta and can satisfy far greater demand at the Emirates. That’s why the Kroenkes have confirmed plans to expand the stadium.

Arsenal taking inspiration from SoFi Stadium with Emirates Stadium expansion

Since Josh Kroenke revealed that the Gunners were at the preliminary stages of creating blueprints to expand the Emirates last summer, there have been relatively few major updates.

It has been reliably reported that Arsenal want to be able to accommodate 80,000 fans and have been presented with some ideas by architecture firms. But beyond that, not much.

Chart showing matchday income and stadium capacities of Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, Everton, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, West Ham and Leeds United, with TBR Football logo
Premier League clubs’ matchday income and stadium capacity Credit: Adam Williams/TBR Football/GRV Media

Now, however, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) executive Kevin Demoff has explained how the club is approaching the ambitious project.

In an interview with The Athletic, Demoff said KSE would draw on their experience building the £4.1bn SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, home to Kroenke’s Rams NFL franchise.

“On budget and on time, not necessarily like SoFi,” said Demoff when asked what standards he wanted the Emirates masterplan to meet.

“But I do think if you look at something like Emirates, there are a lot of things that you would look at at SoFi and say, ‘Are there ways that we could bring some of this to drive revenue, to improve the fan experience?’”

“You also have to be very cognizant that the fan experience in the Premier League and what Arsenal fans value is very different than what Rams fans value.”

Demoff also spoke about how some elements of the SoFi Stadium wouldn’t fly at the Emirates. The 110-metre video board that is suspended above the pitch, or example.

“[That wouldn’t work] given the current restrictions around video that you can show,” who is also a board member at Ball Arena, another massive Kroenke-funded infrastructure project.

Demoff also explained that hospitality will be a big revenue driver at the Emirates, with premium pitch side seating options among the options being considered.

“That’s the kind of envelope-pushing you wan.

“And then I think that’s really for the Arsenal leadership team to decide, ‘Hey, that could work here in its real version or in a tweaked version,’ or, ‘That’s just not going to fly at all with our fans.’”

How much Arsenal could earn at 80,000-capacity stadium

In 2023-24, the last published financial year, Arsenal earned £131m through the turnstiles.

That was second only to Manchester United in the Premier League and, on a revenue per fan basis, was the highest in the division.

At an 80,000-capacity stadium, that figure would soar.

Chart showing Arsenal's annual matchday income compared to an average of the other Big Six clubs, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea
Arsenal matchday income compared to the other ‘Big Six’ clubs Credit: Adam Williams/TBR Football/GRV Media

Based on a pro-rata calculation, an extra 20,000 seats would generate £172m in matchday income. However, that figure ignores an increased emphasis on hospitality and other commercial benefits.

Most experts TBR Football has spoken to believe that Manchester United could earn around £250m in annual matchday income at a 100,000-seater stadium, for example.

Arsenal can charge a London premium. Their geography is perfectly set to satisfy demand from the corporate sector.

While they likely couldn’t match United’s £250m, they might not be too far off if they execute the plan perfectly.

And in terms of the budget available to Mikel Arteta and new sporting director Andrea Berta, that could be very significant given the Kroenkes want the club to return to a self-funding model.