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News
Arsenal could now blast £500m on 80,000-seater stadium
For the last few years, Arsenal’s North London rivals Spurs have had the bragging rights when it comes to their stadium – but that could all be about to change.
Arsenal‘s Emira♎tes Stadium has a capacity of just under 61,000, around 2,000 less than the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
However,🎃 the blueprints themselves for the Emirates Stadium are nearly 30 years old, which means its earning potential is dwarfed by their rivals.
The ga♕p in terms of pure annual matchday🍷 income is only small.
Arsenal earned £103m at the last co🍸unt, while Spurs banked £118m.
However, it is the commercial capabilities of the t🍸wo grounds where ꦫthe difference truly lies.
Spurs’ ground 𝓡is far more high-tech and offers more value to sponsors, not to menti𒈔on how lucrative it is for non-football events.
But, as revealed by co-chair Josh Kroenke in a recent interview, Arsenal have now hel෴d exploratory internal discussions about revamping the Emirates.
To explore what an upgrade, remodelled stadium might look like for Arsenal, TBR spoke exclusively to Liverpool University football finance lecturer and Price of Football author Kieran Magu𓄧ire.
How big could Arsenal go with Emirates expansion?
This will be the burning question for most bedrock A🌃rsenal fans – what capacity can they reach?
There have been a number of simple seating reconfigurations over the years, but it sounds as though Kroenke junior wants something far𓂃 more substantial.
“I think Arsenal are acknowledging the fact that you have to run to stand still when it comes to football stadia,” said Maguire.
“There will be a tipping point where your payback period starts to become exponential when you increase capacity.
“I think London has something like 80 per cent of the cranes in the UK, which shows you how desirable it is to build there.
“I think 75,000 or 80,000 would be the limit. They wouldn’t be able to match Man United’s projected 100,000. The Emirates doesn’t have the existing footprint for it. It would become very complex.
“If they follow the Spurs model and move to Wembley for a couple of years, they might be able to get the capacity a bit higher.
“But I don’t think anything above 80,000 would work from a cost point of view.
“Initially, I think we’d be looking at adding another 5,000 or 6,000 at one end of the stadium, then moving on and doing the other end. It would be done in a series of changes, not dissimilar to what we have seen at Anfield.“
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How would Arsenal fund a new stadium? How much would Emirates expansion cost?
All in all, Spurs’ stadium cost close 💖to £1bn, wh♍ile Everton’s new home ground at Bramley Moore Dock has spiralled from £500m to closer to £800m.
Stan Kroenke, Arsenal’s ultimate owner, is equally as experienced in the property and capex sector as he is in ꦆsports.
He has overseen LA Rams’ move to the magnificent SoFi 🌳Stadium, where Arsenal played Man United in pre-season, as 💧well as the redevelopment o🌸f the Ball Arena in Denver, home of his Denver Nuggets side.
Will the 76-yꦯear-old billionaire’s experience lend it self well to Arsenal’s grand plans? And how will the project be financed?
“I think Kroenke would delegate an awful lot of this,” said Maguire.
“The key issue is funding and finance.
“If you’re going from 60,000 to 80,000, you’re not going to get any change out of £500m in my view.
“Labour costs and material costs have all increased significantly. It would be a complex architecture and design project to make it safe.
“Then you have ancillary costs in relation to the surrounding areas, the commitments to the local community, and so on.
“If you are borrowing from the markets, it will be expensive. Spurs have done well because they are locked into loans at around 2.5 to 3.75 per cent interest. You aren’t going to get those rates in the current markets.
“Having an owner who is independently wealthy and can provide the funding at nominal interest rates or interest-free is very beneficial.
“Can Stan Kroenke do it? Certainly. If Tony Bloom can put £500m into Brighton, Kroenke can easily do that at Arsenal. He is far richer.”
Could Arsenal renegotiate Emirates deal?
Arsenal earn a reported £60m ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚper seas🎶on from Emirates, whose d🍌eal encompasses both front-of-shirt and stadium naming rights deal.
With 🌄that deal expiring in 2028, would Arsenal have scope to𓃲 renegotiate in a shiny new, revamped stadium?
“There will be some enhanced leverage,” said Maguire.
“The whole point about naming rights is that you get into people’s psyche when you’re using the name in everyday conversation.
“We talk about the Emirates Stadium every day. That is a huge plus for Emirates.
“They see themselves as a global brand. Significant to that is whether or not Arsenal are qualifying for the Champions League.
“If you take a look at the contract between Emirates and Arsenal, the bonuses that are performance-linked would be far greater than any uptick in terms of the value of the naming rights.”