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News
£790m Stan Kroenke project could ‘make or break’ Arsenal’s 80,000-seater Emirates Stadium masterplan
There was frustration at Kroenke Sport & Entertainment HQ when Arsenal’s North London rivals Tottenham snatched the crown of the city’s biggest, best and – crucially – most lucrative stadium.
The Emirates Stadium, which will stage Arsenal’s meeting with West Ham at the weekend, is by no meansꦡ💙 a hovel next to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
But it is now 20 years old and based on blueprints from the 1990s. There has been a revolution in stadium design since, which means Arsenal aren’t cashing in fꦍrom their home support to the extent they could.
Increasing capacity is just one way the Gunners can further line their pockets, but simply adding new seats will not be the be-all and end-all of a project at the Emirates likely to cost over £500m.
Take the SoFi Stadium, for example, which is home to Stan Kroenke’s Los Angeles Rams NFL franchise.
When Arsenal played Man United in pre-season at ꦬthe 70,000-capacity stadium, spectators were funnelled throu💝gh walkways designed in tandem with consumer psychologists to open wallets.
The hospitality quarters meanwhile is increasingly where the real money is made, and Arsenal are well aware of this. There is an exclusive suite at the Emirates sponsored by JPMorgan, after all.
Plans to expand and improve the Emirates Stadium, which were first disclosed by Josh Kroenke last summer, will focus on these value po💞ints above all else.
Why should the everyday Arsenal fan care? Because one, it helps to have bulwarks against the club becoming too commercially fixates and, two, because it directly affects how much Mikel Arteta can spend.
The Kroenkes have departed from the self-sufficient model they want Arsenal to run under for several years now, underwriting losses of almost £350m since they last made a ✤proౠfit.
That won’t last forever and, at some point in the near future, the club will need to wash its own face.▨ That means increased revenue is essential.
The Gunners aren’t alone in this. There is something of a space race taking place across the Premier League at present, with a string of clubs all looking to matchday income as the neꦬxt big revenue plateau.
But bricks-and-mortar infrastructure projects don’t cไome cheap, as Kroenke knows well having privately financed the billions it cost to build the SoFi Stadium.
| Stadium | Cost (adjusted for inflation) | Location | Opened |
| SoFi Stadium | $5.5 billion | California, USA | 2020 |
| MetLife Stadium | $1.99 billion | New Jersey, USA | 2010 |
| Allegiant Stadium | $1.90 billion | Nevada, USA | 2020 |
| Wembley Stadium | $1.85 billion | London, UK | 2007 |
| Yankee Stadium | $1.79 billion | New York, USA | 2009 |
| AT&T Stadium | $1.79 billion | Texas, USA | 2009 |
| Mercedes-Benz Stadium | $1.56 billion | Atlanta, USA | 2017 |
| Singapore National Stadium | $1.41 billion | Kallang, Singapore | 2014 |
| Tottenham Hotspur Stadium | $1.33 billion | London, England | 2019 |
| Optus Stadium | $1.17 billion | Perth, Australia | 2017 |
To discuss the finances of the stadium and how technology could play a key role in making it cost-effective, TBR Football spoke exclusively to Liverpool University football finance lecturer Kieran Maguire.
Tech breakthrough key to Emirates Stadium expansion, says football finance expert
One of the main elements of owners such as Stan Kroenke’s capital appreciation plans is techn🍬ology that can help them tap into their international fanbase.
Arsenal are one of the best supported clubs worldwide but are limited by their geography in terms of how they can monetise t𒐪heir global following.
Kroen🍎ke thinks immersive or shared reality platforms could be the answer.
He is♕ a major backer of Cosm, for example, the shared reality firm recently valued at £790m who have just secured a fresh round of funding 💧to take their operations global.
According to Maguire, a tech tie-in with Cosm or another similar companyꦗ could give Arsenal the financial impetus to push forward with and maximise the pote♎ntial of the Emirates Stadium expansion.
“Kroenke doesn’t need cash now as he is independently very wealthy,” said Kieran Maguire, football finance lecturer at Liverpool University, in exclusive conversation with TBR Football.
“There is a huge, almost evangelical belief that tech can be the next klondike in football revenue. I think Kroenke realises this.
“If you’re on the sell side of these products, you are always going to big them up – that is part and parcel of the industry.
“But Arsenal are in a very strong position here, and the potential of this kind of technology .
“Arsenal can become early adopters of this sort of thing and combine that with the expansion of the stadium. That could make what at present looks like a non-cost effective expansion worthwhile.
“There is a genuine chance that this could change the parameters significantly, so it could be make or break for the stadium.
“With Cosm, you don’t need huge amounts of specific infrastructure to facilitate it, but for an even more immersive experience that is going to require more investment.”
How will Stan Kroenke pay for Emirates rebuild? Will it affect PSR?
The expansion, if it materialises, wil🐲l likely be financed by debt.
Macroeconomic conditions are no👍t favourable at present, with high interest rates having the potential to increase the burden on Arsenal for years.
Arsenal fans 🦩will be wary of this given the budgetary restraint that followed the♓ir move to the Emirates in 2006, although and 80,000-seater stadium would be a banker.
The good news is that the outlay would not eat into Ar🌸senal’s PSR calculation.
Infrastructure spending is exempt from the Premier League and UEFA’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) during the construction phase.
Arsenal have plenty of headroom under P🌺SR at present in any case.