A bigger stadium, what are the options?

[themightyfin]

They have already stated increasing the capacity is not as easy as it sounds with restrictions from the council and as much said a new ground would be in order if they wanted to expand.

[Ashley]

For those saying we would have to give more than our current 3,200 tickets to away fans are wrong.

Old Trafford is what 70,000? Away allocation is exactly the same as ours.

[ramboacdc]

Deckchairs should be going for a good price at the moment. Easily fit a couple thousand up on the roof.

thing is, are you gluing them down or screwing them in?

[yorkie1999]

Its not just about capacity, parking is already a nightmare. We use park and ride for Saturday 3 pm kickoffs but these close at 7pm so evening and Sunday match's are difficult.The Rugby world cup managed to bus people direct to the ground but the brainless council are considering closing park and ride sites to save money,just shows what they think of us football fans.

Shirley the answer is to just build a new ground on the park and ride land.

[Richard]

I'd love it. Had an ST throughout the Kelly/Levein years yet have absolutely no chance of getting a ticket nowadays.

 

I refuse to pay for just the privilege of being able to attempt to buy a ticket through the membership scheme when I will be back in the Midlands for maybe 2 home games a season.

 

 

 

Ironic how I paid all that money to watch that dross yet can't get a ticket now we're big time!

[artursteppe]

Shirley the answer is to just build a new ground on the park and ride land.

Who's Shirley? Maybe she is the answer, but to what? Intriguing. Is Shirley the new 'whatshername' off the telly that everyone is in love with?

I must know who Shirley is!

[stripeyfox]

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the ground expanded. We are picking up new fans all over the place and if you don't have a season ticket you've got next to no chance of getting tickets. You've also got virtually no chance of getting a season ticket currently.

A new stadium is totally out of the question. The last time we moved it nearly bankrupted us and it would probably do so again if we undertook such a project.

Expansion seems like a no brainer - the stadium is sold out but as others have pointed out traffic and parking are a nightmare already and any application is likely to resisted by local residents.

There is also the risk that by the time it gets built (which could be a couple of years by the time planning has been completed), the demand may not be what it was.

Also, there is the financial return - which compared to the revenues generated by TV money is relatively small beer. Lets say you have 8,000 more seats and half of those go to new season ticket holders (say £400 each) - that's 1.6M per season. Lets say the other 4,000 are all sold on matchday at £35 each (pretty generous estimate as a good chunk of all seats are sold as concessions to kids/OAPs) - that's £ 2,6M over the season. So all in all, your new stand generates around £4M per year, if it sells out. So that's 4 years just to pay for it.

But compare that £4M to the £100M+ in TV revenues and you can see why it might not be a priority.

[ashwj]

Two practical points.

1. Seats get exponentially more expensive the higher they are as they require more support. That's why large stadiums seem so disproportionately expensive to ours. So I would expect it to cost a lot more than Cardiff.

2. I remember that there were structural issues with the steel supports and that's why we couldn't hold gigs there. Not sure if that got sorted? If not it might add complication to expansion and would certainly rule out standing!

[yorkie1999]

Who's going want to sit in a stand 100 foot in the air facing the depths of winter blowing in from across the river.

[Babylon]

We sold out Filbo for years before we built the new stadium, and that helped push us into administration.

 

Another few seasons selling out every game then we can consider it, but doing anything that will temporarily reduce capacity while we are selling out is big risk with relegation always a possibility in coming seasons.

For a club like Leicester, relegation will always be a possibility. There are perhaps only a handful of teams in this league they haven't flirted with relegation for a long long time. Increasing the stadium capacity is one of many things you can do that all build towards being a more stable premier league club.

 

Extra income (whilst minimal against the tv money, can still get you a few extra top quality players compared to those with smaller grounds). You look a progressive, ambitious club and obviously a bigger one as well with an increased capacity. Meaning if you're battling with another team for a player it might edge it in your favour.

 

Lastly, administration... I'm not sure we need to worry about that. The costs of an increase would be fairly minimal, we had rich owners who have proved they have their head screwed on. We're virtually debt free, so the cost worries etc should be minimal.

[Babylon]

The closed season is nowhere near long enough to extend a stand. 2 1/2 - 3 months, you're in cloud cookoo land chap.

Looking at Cardiffs build they constructed most of the stand behind the old stand, then during close season they whip off the old roof and it reveals the new stand behind it and finish everything off. So whilst the build would take more than a few months, the bits that would cause disruption inside look like they could be done within the summer months.

 

Interesting to look at for anyone interested in how it would be done. http://www.cardiffcityfc.co.uk/news/article/gallery-ninian-stand-from-the-ground-up-1689669.aspx

[Bayfox]

Few points that have been raised on here, and a few questions that need answering.

 

All this talk of the East Stand being extended seems based on rumours that the footings but in place allow for it. anyone actually know this to be factually correct?

 

I get that if we are ambitious then expansion is a reality, but bar a few million a season on the balance sheet, does anyone want to play in a ground that goes back to looking like the riverside if we have a slump? the only way to keep the stadium full would be to draw down ticket prices, negating any financial benefit.

 

Whilst I would think there is absolutely no chance of another new ground, it certainly wouldn't bankrupt us, as far as I am aware the club still don't own this ground, a parent company of King Power holdings or whoever do. I would however love them to decide to build something bespoke and fix a few of the wrongs that the KP has, that said it finally feels like home, so would a move be worth the risk.

 

I know you can't please all of the people all of the time, but I feel what we are doing now with a great team spirit and some decent players, can we EVER attract real top quality, we are a provincial club, top draw players seem to want a lifestyle that involves London/Manchester/Madrid etc, now I know Kasper commutes, but do we want a whole team that commutes. Even Liverpool who have a long History struggle to attract real top draw players, both Manchester Clubs are paying silly wages to hang on to some players.

 

Whilst I don't lack the ambition to see us carry on what we are doing, I think I may cry if we won the league this season, how viable and sustainable is what we are currently doing.

 

We have seen crowds of 20k here and 14k at Filbert St, with the TV money now the main source of income, do the owners need to get more bums on seats in the ground. What we have now is working, would you risk diluting it?

[thybluefox]

It needs to be done if we want to make a real go of becoming a top 6 or top 8 side. We're never going to be sure though that we aren't a couple of seasons away from relegation, not unless we establish ourselves amongst the best 5 or 6 sides in the league for 4 or 5 seasons. 

 

I'd love an extra tier on the east stand, and even better if it over hung the top 10 rows of the current stand. I think that'd look awesome, and hark back to the old double decker. 

[Captain...]

For a club like Leicester, relegation will always be a possibility. There are perhaps only a handful of teams in this league they haven't flirted with relegation for a long long time. Increasing the stadium capacity is one of many things you can do that all build towards being a more stable premier league club.

 

Extra income (whilst minimal against the tv money, can still get you a few extra top quality players compared to those with smaller grounds). You look a progressive, ambitious club and obviously a bigger one as well with an increased capacity. Meaning if you're battling with another team for a player it might edge it in your favour.

 

Lastly, administration... I'm not sure we need to worry about that. The costs of an increase would be fairly minimal, we had rich owners who have proved they have their head screwed on. We're virtually debt free, so the cost worries etc should be minimal.

 

I'm pretty sure administration wasn't worried about when we built the Walkers, and look what happened, the amount of money being pumped into football, it feels like the peak before a crash. All markets go this way, expanding and expanding before it just becomes unsustainable and then crash, which is why  FFP  has been created, but it isn't really being implemented. Sky/BT pumping in billions every year is not sustainable for either of them, and it won't take much for sponsors to start pulling out. The failure of big clubs possibly being one of them.

 

I'm not saying don't expand the stadium, we should have all the plans and quotes and possibilities mapped out and risk benefit scenarios analysed.

 

We do need to remember what happened last time, and we do also need to remember we were rooted to the bottom of the table this time last year, and we were favourite to go down this year. Demand has already started to drop off this year, more tickets are going to general sale, a couple more seasons in the top flight and we might start  to see home games not sell out.

 

I would give it a couple of seasons to see how stable the demand is, how stable the club is in the top flight, and what sort of disruption expansion would cause.

[tyfox]

For those saying we would have to give more than our current 3,200 tickets to away fans are wrong.

Old Trafford is what 70,000? Away allocation is exactly the same as ours.

75,000 mate and i never knew it was same allocation as ours thats disgusting 

[Babylon]

I'm pretty sure administration wasn't worried about when we built the Walkers, and look what happened, the amount of money being pumped into football, it feels like the peak before a crash. All markets go this way, expanding and expanding before it just becomes unsustainable and then crash, which is why  FFP  has been created, but it isn't really being implemented. Sky/BT pumping in billions every year is not sustainable for either of them, and it won't take much for sponsors to start pulling out. The failure of big clubs possibly being one of them.

 

I'm not saying don't expand the stadium, we should have all the plans and quotes and possibilities mapped out and risk benefit scenarios analysed.

 

We do need to remember what happened last time, and we do also need to remember we were rooted to the bottom of the table this time last year, and we were favourite to go down this year. Demand has already started to drop off this year, more tickets are going to general sale, a couple more seasons in the top flight and we might start  to see home games not sell out.

 

I would give it a couple of seasons to see how stable the demand is, how stable the club is in the top flight, and what sort of disruption expansion would cause.

 

Premier League money jumps up at least £30m alone next season even if you finished bottom, vastly more if you do well. The Cardiff expansion would be very similar, which had costs of £12m, that extra money, along with having billionaire owners, I really see no issues cost wise. You cannot compare this to the build of the new stadium. We didn't have rich owners, the costs were vastly more than the expansion would be, the money coming in was massively less than it is now.

 

The deals are done, the league isn't going to implode before the next deal is out, in fact it's still showing no signs of the growth stopping, with deals being done abroad for the rights climbing all the time.

 

Of course you need to take into consideration demand, the club will be well aware of that. But they will also be aware that since the days of filbert street we've got many more people coming along and that over time we grew the fanbase. When we built the new stadium people were saying the same things, we'll never fill it etc etc. But we did, even in the championship sometimes. You don't have to go from 32,000 to filling it with 40,000 instantly. It's about giving yourself room for steady growth.

 

The owners are ambitious, that's very clear with that they say and what they do. Growing is part of the plan and expanding the stadium is a necessary is part of it. The new premier league money will build it with plenty of change. So the only worry is having an empty stand if you ever got relegated. Personally I can live with that if it's the only draw back, to something that could be a huge benefit to the club.

[BrummieFOX]

I've become less bothered about expansion. I'd much prefer safe standing but that is just not going to happen in the near future.

 

There's also the issue of expectation among us fans. A few years in the Prem and we'll expect to stay there or even expect a top half finish. If we become an established Premier League side, that doesn't guarantee a sell out every game.

 

At present, the size of our ground is probably about right for the size of our club. We're having an incredible season at the moment but I think we'd be jumping the gun by expanding too quickly or too much.

[Babylon]

I've become less bothered about expansion. I'd much prefer safe standing but that is just not going to happen in the near future.

 

There's also the issue of expectation among us fans. A few years in the Prem and we'll expect to stay there or even expect a top half finish. If we become an established Premier League side, that doesn't guarantee a sell out every game.

 

At present, the size of our ground is probably about right for the size of our club. We're having an incredible season at the moment but I think we'd be jumping the gun by expanding too quickly or too much.

What's the downside, you have some empty seats? You'd still fill the place 6/7 times a year with ease anyway. First and last games, christmas games, games against your big six would all draw massive crowds.

[Captain...]

Premier League money jumps up at least £30m alone next season even if you finished bottom, vastly more if you do well. The Cardiff expansion would be very similar, which had costs of £12m, that extra money, along with having billionaire owners, I really see no issues cost wise. You cannot compare this to the build of the new stadium. We didn't have rich owners, the costs were vastly more than the expansion would be, the money coming in was massively less than it is now.

 

The deals are done, the league isn't going to implode before the next deal is out, in fact it's still showing no signs of the growth stopping, with deals being done abroad for the rights climbing all the time.

 

Of course you need to take into consideration demand, the club will be well aware of that. But they will also be aware that since the days of filbert street we've got many more people coming along and that over time we grew the fanbase. When we built the new stadium people were saying the same things, we'll never fill it etc etc. But we did, even in the championship sometimes. You don't have to go from 32,000 to filling it with 40,000 instantly. It's about giving yourself room for steady growth.

 

The owners are ambitious, that's very clear with that they say and what they do. Growing is part of the plan and expanding the stadium is a necessary is part of it. The new premier league money will build it with plenty of change. So the only worry is having an empty stand if you ever got relegated. Personally I can live with that if it's the only draw back, to something that could be a huge benefit to the club.

 

You make a very good case, but I would still hold off a few years, we can't really build any good models on the back of some of the most exceptional seasons in our history, it is not just the cost of the expansion but also the added maintenance costs, disruption etc. All worth it if we can sustain this demand, but I don't know if we will after settling in to being a mid table prem side.

 

I think my initial comments re administration was after reading people suggest we build a new stadium.

[Bob Weasel Fox]

Premier League money jumps up at least £30m alone next season even if you finished bottom, vastly more if you do well. The Cardiff expansion would be very similar, which had costs of £12m, that extra money, along with having billionaire owners, I really see no issues cost wise. You cannot compare this to the build of the new stadium. We didn't have rich owners, the costs were vastly more than the expansion would be, the money coming in was massively less than it is now.

The deals are done, the league isn't going to implode before the next deal is out, in fact it's still showing no signs of the growth stopping, with deals being done abroad for the rights climbing all the time.

Of course you need to take into consideration demand, the club will be well aware of that. But they will also be aware that since the days of filbert street we've got many more people coming along and that over time we grew the fanbase. When we built the new stadium people were saying the same things, we'll never fill it etc etc. But we did, even in the championship sometimes. You don't have to go from 32,000 to filling it with 40,000 instantly. It's about giving yourself room for steady growth.

The owners are ambitious, that's very clear with that they say and what they do. Growing is part of the plan and expanding the stadium is a necessary is part of it. The new premier league money will build it with plenty of change. So the only worry is having an empty stand if you ever got relegated. Personally I can live with that if it's the only draw back, to something that could be a huge benefit to the club.

Great post babs

[Len Finsbury]

How did the city cope when attendances were double what they are now? People certainly used to get their without having bloody parking issues! It's not like the public transport is diabolical in a city like Leicester!

[BrummieFOX]

What's the downside, you have some empty seats? You'd still fill the place 6/7 times a year with ease anyway. First and last games, christmas games, games against your big six would all draw massive crowds.

True, there are no specific downsides to it I suppose. It just doesn't excite me like some others. I'd rather see a fans village outside the ground with bars and food for example, though maybe budget wise both could be done. 

[Babylon]

True, there are no specific downsides to it I suppose. It just doesn't excite me like some others. I'd rather see a fans village outside the ground with bars and food for example, though maybe budget wise both could be done. 

 

I think both a being looked at from what we've heard. Exciting times on and off the pitch!

[AKCJ]

I think both a being looked at from what we've heard. Exciting times on and off the pitch!

 

 

Would love to see Filbert Street Car Park turned into a fan village.

 

Would need to get the Tigers involved I would imagine.

 

 

We must be one of the worst away days in the country.

[Babylon]

Would love to see Filbert Street Car Park turned into a fan village.

 

Would need to get the Tigers involved I would imagine.

 

 

We must be one of the worst away days in the country.

I think it was our own car park they were looking to do something at one point.