Expand the stadium? The poll

[katieakita]

The owners spent something like £70 million + on a plane to help get them to games easier, they are self made millionaires , billionaires so the cost really will not be much of an issue. They have pumped millions into the infrastructure of the club and an increase in capacity seems highly likely, the plan is to improve and keep improving the sooner any extension is completed the sooner we can expand the fan base.

[CosbehFox]

No, Parliament.

It was installed in February last year.

Only used for Rugby though and now removed.

[Vlad the Fox]

Why was it removed?

[Gerard]

Every hoop you make people jump through deters some people from attending.  That's just the way it is.  To you, they may not be committed fans, but they are people ready and willing to pay money to attend matches if we make it easy for them.  

 

If we make people join membership schemes in previous seasons in order to have a chance of a season ticket in the future, it will deter some people.  If we make people join membership schemes to have any chance of a ticket where they want one, it will deter people.  If we have very limited general sales weeks in advance of some games, it will deter some people.  Frankly, there will be people that wake up on game day and want to go to a match.  They can't at the moment.

 

The occasional and irregular fan is someone that is financially struggling, or works erratically, or lives some distance from Leicester, or simply only visits here on occasion.  They are also people with children that decide that today is a good day to bring little Johnny along, but they can't.  Or someone with a friend that supports the opposition or just wants to see what all this fuss is about live football or is just going out of random curiosity. Or a million other reasons.

 

Within all these groups, there are potential future fans that could evolve into committed, every match home and away types.  But even the randoms and occasional fans are good for the club.  It makes no business or footballing sense to choose to exclude anyone when we have the option to offer more seats.     

 

This is a fantastic post but I've just noticed he's made 6 posts in 11 years.

 

Here's a man who only says something when he's only got something to say worth saying. 

[Babylon]

It'll get you nothing until you've paid the construction costs off.

But once you have, it does.

[yorkie1999]

Why was it removed?

There were complaints about being forced to stand.

[Babylon]

Only used for Rugby though and now removed.

Is it just me, or does it look like it actually takes up more room than nearby seats? Edit... actually looking again it seems to take up the same room. So not sure why people are saving there is a large space saving with them?

[Bob Weasel Fox]

we have always been a yoyo middle of the road club.

we will always be a yoyo middle of the road club.......

Unless you take positive steps to change, to grow. There is no guarantee but there is one thing for sure. If you keep doing what you have always done, you will stay being what you have always been. If eating burgers made you fat, carrying on eating burgers will keep you fat!

Some are still saying - wait until you are established. But were we established under Martin O'Neill? You could argue we were until he felt he couldn't take us any further because as a club, we didn't have the means to be as ambitious as we needed to be to grow further. He left and we soon found out that we were not established, just well managed.

100 meter runners that win do so by split seconds by putting that extra bit of training in, they do what it takes to get that very slight advantage to win.

LCFC are not in competition with United, Chelsea etc but we are in competition with Southampton, Swansea, Brom, Stoke etc etc etc. All of those teams could go down and some have been in the prem for some years. Expanding the KP is just one piece of the jigsaw but that extra 10k seats may just be that extra hundreth of a second to separate us from our competition and to help us become established.

Everton have a 40k Stadium and their fanbase is not a whole lot bigger than us but how often have they been relegated in the last 30 years (i've not checked) It's not just about size but it helps! And you will never grow your fanbase if you can't accommodate them.

How do you know how high you can jump if you never let your feet leave the ground.

The Thais are self made Billionaires! They didn't become self made Billionaires by waiting and seeing if they would win the lottery or thinking - you know what we are doing ok and making a profit, let's not try to get bigger in case nobody comes... if nobody comes, we will have a plan to make them come.

I will end again by repeating - If you don't try to be something different, you will never be anything different to what you have always been.

Good post Baggers

[davieG]

Is it just me, or does it look like it actually takes up more room than nearby seats? Edit... actually looking again it seems to take up the same room. So not sure why people are saving there is a large space saving with them?

I believe it's because you're not allocated the space a seat takes up there's the assumption that you need less space per person standing so you squeeze more people into the row but I'm not sure they've taken into account our ever expanding obese society.

 

[Bagworthblue]

I rarely get so opinionated on things as I'm generally (a bit too) laid back personally but my career of 25 years has been based on understanding markets, growing business, and risk management. I get things wrong, make, mistakes but rarely the same one twice and not where big decisions with big consequences are concerned. 

 

Unless there are showstopping factors not in the public domain that we are not aware of, the expansion of the stadium at the earliest opportunity is a KEY enabler to grow the club to either maintain pace with our rivals or edge a step ahead. 

 

factors such as atmosphere and having empty seats are not a key factor in what is purely a business decision. You simply  plan to fill them and accept there is a level of risk in any decision and then assess the probability and consequences. The probability of a empty seats may be high but the consequences are low if you treat it as a long term investment. To win the race, don't run before you can walk - but equally don't walk if you can run!

 

So I think i've done my best now to sell early expansion and I'll try to duck out the debate now as I will only keep repeating myself .......until of course someone comes up with a reason that really presents a valid challenge not to and I haven't seen one yet.

[Bob Weasel Fox]

I rarely get so opinionated on things as I'm generally (a bit too) laid back personally but my career of 25 years has been based on understanding markets, growing business, and risk management. I get things wrong, make, mistakes but rarely the same one twice and not where big decisions with big consequences are concerned.

Unless there are showstopping factors not in the public domain that we are not aware of, the expansion of the stadium at the earliest opportunity is a KEY enabler to grow the club to either maintain pace with our rivals or edge a step ahead.

factors such as atmosphere and having empty seats are not a key factor in what is purely a business decision. You simply plan to fill them and accept there is a level of risk in any decision and then assess the probability and consequences. The probability of a empty seats may be high but the consequences are low if you treat it as a long term investment. To win the race, don't run before you can walk - but equally don't walk if you can run!

So I think i've done my best now to sell early expansion and I'll try to duck out the debate now as I will only keep repeating myself .......until of course someone comes up with a reason that really presents a valid challenge not to and I haven't seen one yet.

Cracking post Baggers

[Raw Dykes]

NameAdm.Population

Census © 2011

London ENG 8,250,205

Birmingham ENG 1,085,810

Glasgow SCO 590,507

Liverpool ENG 552,267

Bristol ENG 535,907

Sheffield ENG 518,090

Manchester ENG 510,746

Leeds ENG 474,632

Edinburgh SCO 459,366

Leicester ENG 443,760

Manchester looks wrong surely

The tricky part of working out these figures is deciding where the city's boundaries are. Manchester's figure might not include Salford, Stockport, etc.

[Ollie93]

The tricky part of working out these figures is deciding where the city's boundaries are. Manchester's figure might not include Salford, Stockport, etc.

 

They're not Manchester though, they're Greater Manchester. Salford's classed as it's own town/city.

[Babylon]

I believe it's because you're not allocated the space a seat takes up there's the assumption that you need less space per person standing so you squeeze more people into the row but I'm not sure they've taken into account our ever expanding obese society.

 

When everyone stands up at half time there isn't any extra room, you're as wide stood up as you are sat down. Is it still one row of people behind each barrier, or do you get a couple of rows of standing people, the room sized has to be at the front / back rather than the sides as that where you'd take up less room. But I'm not sure that would work down ours as the rows are quite narrow, the ones in the picture look quite deep compared to ours.

[Captain...]

The correct course of action right now is for the club to be looking into every option, getting all the quotes and surveys done getting all the ground work in place with a view to expanding in the summer after next season, this summer was most likely ruled out because of RWC commitments, but after the success of last season, and hopefully next season, they should be in a place by the end of next season to make a call, taking into account all factors, firstly are we still in the prem, secondly have we qualified for Europe, then the financials, cost of expansion, added operating costs, operating costs if it is not used, impact on attendances, will the ground be 100% ready for the opening fixture of the season. Then there are other revenue streams, will the expansion include strengthening of the foundations so we can have concerts there (would it be more cost effective to strengthen the foundations than expand the stadium). More corporate boxes, more function suites, more of everything.

 

Then they will look at the figures and review the direction we are going in off the pitch and make a decision. The stadium is the heart of the club, the bigger the better, more facilities, more kudos, more options. With a bigger stadium we could host more international games, World Cup etc also more connection with our fan base, more tickets available to get more people into the ground and reach more fans.

 

This only makes sense if it is combined with our on field success, and we need a contingency plan if we get relegated, use it as an overflow area for big games, and when not enough fans are coming to fill it, turn it into a giant advertising board, have a cover that will scream KING POWER when not in use, partly to reduce operating costs, if it is not open it will cost less on match days, but mainly so it doesn't look like we are in a half empty stadium.

 

I really don't get the debate, to grow as a club we should be looking to increase the stadium size, but the club will know when that is and they will have a lot more information than we do. Of course there are risks, there are risks in everything, but a big stadium is an asset, and whilst we are only just seeing the true benefit of the KP now, if we were still at Filbert street we would have lost out on a phenomenal amount of revenue over the last 10 years.

[davieG]

When everyone stands up at half time there isn't any extra room, you're as wide stood up as you are sat down. Is it still one row of people behind each barrier, or do you get a couple of rows of standing people, the room sized has to be at the front / back rather than the sides as that where you'd take up less room. But I'm not sure that would work down ours as the rows are quite narrow, the ones in the picture look quite deep compared to ours.

Yes seems like that but I believe even now in seated areas where people are standing there's often more in the row than the number of seats.

[davieG]

With a 2nd tier over the East Stand would the sound be improved for those in the lower tier as per the Filbo Kop under the DD.

[Gerard]

The only "established" clubs in the Premier League are the top six.

 

Even Everton and Villa who haven't been relegated for an age have flirted with relegation and are capable of relegation every year. 

 

If we're content with a 32,500 stadium then we've just about peaked already, all we will ever be is a yo-yo club. Sure as eggs are eggs we'll see Southampton, Swansea, Stoke, Crystal Palace, etc and of course ourselves get relegated within the next decade. If you're content to be a minnow in the Premier League then the better players will choose the slightly better clubs leaving you with an inferior team that eventually gets relegated. 

 

I could understand the argument against expansion if we were a Burnley who has a small catchment area and already punching above their weight.

 

If you look at our catchment area we underachieve as a club. The county's population will be 1,000,000+ in the decade or so and we have no local competition for support. Even Forest have Notts County and Mansfield in their county and Derby have Chesterfield. We have thousands of square miles around us before you find another PL team.

 

We have a fantastic long term opportunity to encroach on Forest, Derby, Coventry, Peterborough and Northampton territory and expand our fan base borders.

 

We need to do it ASAP or just accept we'll always be plucky little Leicester.

[Bob Weasel Fox]

The only "established" clubs in the Premier League are the top six.

Even Everton and Villa who haven't been relegated for an age have flirted with relegation and are capable of relegation every year.

If we're content with a 32,500 stadium then we've just about peaked already, all we will ever be is a yo-yo club. Sure as eggs are eggs we'll see Southampton, Swansea, Stoke, Crystal Palace, etc and of course ourselves get relegated within the next decade. If you're content to be a minnow in the Premier League then the better players will choose the slightly better clubs leaving you with an inferior team that eventually gets relegated.

I could understand the argument against expansion if we were a Burnley who has a small catchment area and already punching above their weight.

If you look at our catchment area we underachieve as a club. The county's population will be 1,000,000+ in the decade or so and we have no local competition for support. Even Forest have Notts County and Mansfield in their county and Derby have Chesterfield. We have thousands of square miles around us before you find another PL team.

We have a fantastic long term opportunity to encroach on Forest, Derby, Coventry, Peterborough and Northampton territory and expand our fan base borders.

We need to do it ASAP or just accept we'll always be plucky little Leicester.

Again cracking post buddy

[Bagworthblue]

The tricky part of working out these figures is deciding where the city's boundaries are. Manchester's figure might not include Salford, Stockport, etc.

you are correct - I looked it up and greater Manchester is huge(includes Stockport etc) but the population classed as inner Manchester is quite low compared to Brum.

 

We are however a bigger city than Nottingham,and much bigger than Derby but of course if you base size on counties then we are a reasonably close 3rd but catching up and parts of Derbyshire are ridiculously long journeys from Derby!

[fleckneymike]

exactly and success comes from quality and ambition and quality costs money. Quality also doesn't go to clubs without ambition. 

 

You want success on the pitch, you need to show the decent players out there that LCFC are more ambitious than our competition and be able to pay them that little bit more! Not than Man U or Chelsea but show more ambition than Stoke,Swansea,Soton, Brom etc and you will move up the 2nd division within the premier league. 10k seats shows ambition, makes us bigger than most of those clubs and generates that extra bit of revenue to enable us to spend tht little bit more on players - maybe the wages for 1 quality player that makes the dfference.

 

10k seats doesn't show ambition, it shows you have a lot of seats. Signing players of a certain calibre on wages comparable to other top stars shows ambition. Players don't give a flying **** how many seats you have, they have no emotional attachement to your club but they do have quite strong feelings towards their bank balance.

 

Bums on seats don't pay wages, corporate bums eating corporate food do. Anfield, the Emirates, White Heart Lane etc have been expanded or are scheduled to be, not so the proles can get in, but so more hospitality packages can be sold and seats which retail at £35 suddently generate close to £120. These extra seats folks crave arent for you, they aren't for those who've drifted away with family and commitments, they are for those with short memories and deep pockets.

[fleckneymike]

The tricky part of working out these figures is deciding where the city's boundaries are. Manchester's figure might not include Salford, Stockport, etc.

 

The more pertinent part is identifying the demongraphics of a population. There could be 1bn people in Leicester but if they all like ice skating then expanding the football stadium is ****ing pointless.

 

We are indeed a one club town, but that may well be because there wasn't enough interest to sustain two sides.

[C-man]

Fleckney Mike keeping it real.

[Bob Weasel Fox]

Fleckney Mike keeping it real.

Think Fleckers is having a bad day

[fleckneymike]

Think Fleckers is having a bad day

 

Nope, I'm just slightly bemused by some of the comments.

 

If the club wish to expand the stadium then that is brilliant, however if for one second you think they are doing it so folks can safely stand or so more supporters can afford to attend you might find youself ever so slightly dissapointed whilst also stood some distance from the ground because you still can't get in.

 

The Thai's have done wonders for us, but they have done wonders for us because they know being in the Premier League can ultimately do wonders from their brand. Their brand will be enhanced by trophies, players or positive press interest. It will not be enhanced by attendance figures. They bought (and paid over the odds for) a private Gulf Stream jet because it carries prestige, they play Polo with royalty because it carries prestige, they seek royal endorsments because it carries prestige, they want Premier League football because it brings prestige, they signed Sven because he brought prestige (and near financial ruin), the market Cambiasso because he brings prestige to the club.