Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
News
£616m reveal shows exactly how Arsenal are preparing for Emirates Stadium expansion
The Premier League is in an era of stadium rebuilds and, nearly two decades on from trading Highbury for the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal might be next in line for a major redevelopment.
When the Emirates opened its doors in 2006, it was the apex in stadium design, with its sleek, bowl-shaped design, ensuring excellent sightlines from eve❀ry seat and glass façade creating a space-age feel.
But while venue in N5 is still among the biggest and best in Europe, Arsenal’s Premier League rivals are gaining ground and, in North London rivals Tottenham’s case, have over🦂taken the Gunners.
Man United remain the league’s matchday income kings, with Spurs closing in fast. But the new Sir Jim Ratcliffe-led regime has huge plans for a new, 100,000-seater stadium on the Old Tꦫrafford site.
In Liverpool, FSG have opted for a staggered redevelopment process that has gradually brought capacity to 61,276, a few hundred more than Arsenal.
Man City’s Abu Dhabi owners have opted for a similar approach and by the their project is fiꦬnished, the Etihad Stadium will have surpassed the Emirates’ capacity too.
West Ham can also accommodate more at the London Stadium, while Newcastle United and Chelsea both have plans♏ in place for space-age new home grounds that will place them on a similar footing.
It isn’t all about how many fans you can seat either. Everto⭕n’s new stadium at Bramley Moore Do🌳ck is a more modest capacity but will have outsized earning potential thanks to its commercial facilities.
Aston Villa and Leeds United, two clubs with among the richest owners in English footb🐼all who see෴ their clubs as European regulars in the long term, will also soon redeveloping Villa Park and Elland Road.
So, when the club’s co-chair 🍌Josh Kroenke revealed Arsenal are exploring expanding the Emirat🌟es, it was b𒈔ig news but perhaps not th👍e most surprising.
Any upgrades would need to be compr🍒ehensive – and expensive🐽.
While it opened 18 years ago, TBR Football has been told that the blueprints for the Emirates are now almost 30 yea🅷rs old, and the stadium was not designed with expansion in mind.
Speaking to TBR earlier this year, Liverpool University football finance lecturer and industry insider Kieran Maguire forecasted that Arsenal could spend £500m to rais𝔉e capacity to ♐80,000.
Reports this week suggest that th🍎e Gunners are indeed aiming🌌 for that capacity, although they only at the exploratory stage at present.
Owner Stan Kroenke favours a self-funding approach in North💫 London, so increasing revenue is central to fortifying the budget available t🍷o Mikel Arteta.
And developments direct from Arsenal this week appear to signal that the KSE regime are now getting their ducks in a row before they break ground on increasing tꦍhe stadium.
Arsenal showcase Emirates Stadium’s value
Before any🎶 capital expenditure project can get underway, Arsenal must clear a number of hurdles.
One of those is acquiring approval ⭕from the council. After all, the reason Arsenal moved from Highbury in the first place was because Islington Council would not give them permission to expand the ground.
Local residents would need to be consulted and convinced of the sta💃dium’s value as a community asset as well as a cash cow for Arsenal. Then, there are infrastructure costs and the possibility of pu🐻blic funding.
That may be one of the reaso🍎ns that Arsenal released an official Economic and Social Impact report in collaboration with E♏Y this week.
In the 56-pa🃏ge document, the club claimed to have delivered £616m in economic value to the UK, with £425m that figure zeroed in on Islington itself.
With the fate of the Emirates Stadium in Islington Council’👍s hands, it looks like the PR campaign has begun.
The finances of expanding the Emirates – £150m windfall in sight
Football clubs have three primary income streams: com🐭merc꧃ial, media and matchday.
There are signs that after a decade of huge growth, TV money is starting to 🧸plateau. Commercial income has less of a defined ceiling but is an immensely competitive marketplace.
Capital expenditure projects like expanding the Emirates 𒉰are expensive but ar꧂e also free from Profit and Sustainability Rules and are typically externally financed – and the returns are more or less guaranteed.
At the last count, Arsenal’s annual matchday income stood at £103m, behind Man United and Spurs 🍷in the context of the Premier Le🅠ague.
That was a bigger proportion of their total revenue than any of the so♎-called Big Six.
A crude pro-rata calculation based on that £103m figure extrapolated for an 80,000-🥂seater stadium would give Arsenal annual matchday income of £139m post-redevelopment.
Howeve♕r, the true final figure w🧔ould be higher – perhaps by an order of magnitude.
For one, that £103m figure was taken from the last recorded financial year, 2022-23, when Arsenal were not in the Champions League, where they have at least four premi🦩um priced matchdays.
Any Emirates rebuild would also include a ꦰmajor hospitality focus, which some clubs find generates revenue comparable to general ticket sales despite catering to a fraction of the stadium’s capacity.
There would be commercial opportunities✨ too, such as the scope the renegotiate the naming rights deal with Emirates and court new sponsors for suites in the stadium.
In total, e🅘xpansion would likely see annual matchday income hit at least the £150m mark.
The Wembley Stadium issue, Chelsea clash, and debt: Problems Arsenal must resolve before Emirates rebuild
In terms of t𒅌he design itself, Arsenal have two choices.
Thღey could opt for a staggered approach like Liverpool and Man City whereby construction takes place over several years but has minimal impact on the ♓matchday experience.
Or, they coꦺuld temporarily vaca🦩te the Emirates and get the work done quicker.
If the latter, they would need to find an inter✤🐬im home. And the consensus is that Wembley Stadium is the most likely option.
However with Chelsea also p🤡lanning their own stadium project, there is the risk of a clash with Arsenal.
What’s more, with any redevelopment likely to cost £500m or more, Stan Kroenke woul♚d also need to consider 🧸whether he is willing to bankroll the project or load the club with debt.
Kroenke privately financed the £4bn SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Los Angeles, widely considered one of the best in the wo🔯rld.
Time will tell whethe♍r he takes the same𒁃 approach at the Emirates.