Stadium Expansion - at last !

[ST20]

Name the new stand after Ranieri.

[Beechey]

38 minutes ago, Webbo said:

I don't know the latest figures but in 2014/15 it was around £10 million a season. Let's say its £15 million now, a 25% increase in capacity will earn around £3.75 million, that's not even Vardy's wages and that's before you service the debt or pay the extra expenses. From a financial POV its probably not a great idea but it proves how generous our owners are ( or having a bigger stadium boosts their ego)

 

As fans we have nothing to complain about.

 

£16.5m, taking out UEFA competition money, it is around 7% of revenue.

[FrankieADZ]

as much as its good to hear that they are looking to expand the ground, the ground still wont be full for the so called "lesser" games, and we'll still get people moaning they cant get a ticket......

 

its good on the whole though for the club

[splinterdream]

1 hour ago, Gerard said:

 

A lot of people will be in a similar boat to us. It's all very well some people being unbelievably negative about the expansion and moaning that there are still single seats available in a lot of games thus demand is satisfied.

 

People like you and I and many others will see this as an opportunity to get ST's with friends and family whilst we can as we can't do that now. My kids are always wanting to come but can't because I'm only a member myself and can only get a single ticket in the league matches, they have however been to every home cup match apart from Chelsea when I couldn't get tickets together.

 

We have the population to support a 50,000 stadium or more but we need to become a culture that turn up to watch their football team and this helps.

The stadium needs some spare seats, I have fond memories of me and my mates when we were teens deciding last minute we'd go to the match on a weeknight, at that age you're not going to pre-plan to buy a ticket, this is what gets you into going to the footy, this is what gives you the memories. Think of the young lads that can't get a ticket because all the retired folk or the well off have season tickets, that's the future and they're the ones that will sing their hearts out, they're the ones that'll create the atmosphere and at the minute they're being shut out 

[FoxesDeb]

It's probably already been said, but hopefully this will mean the end of the over priced membership scheme. Those of us who want season tickets should be able to get them, and those who only want to go as and when they can should be able to buy tickets without having to pay for the opportunity, and there will hopefully be plenty to go round. 

[Nod.E]

18 hours ago, Babylon said:

I watched City v Grimsby on a Wednesday night with about 11,000 there in the league. I'm sure many have seen smaller crowds.

 

Baffling that some don't realise better facilities, more availability, and a high level of football can bring about growth. But people can't look past one or two years. These things are measured over decades. 

This.

 

Small minds.

 

But you know, a Scouser on foxestalk probably does know better than a pair of internationally successful billionaire businessmen ?

[fleckneymike]

The expansion is a clear sign of intent by the owners to make the ground 'work' for the club. I anticipate a much greater focus on corporate seating and 'match day experience'.

 

This is no bad thing. Those of us who don't want the 'match day experience' don't have to enjoy/endure it and can still arrive on the whistle whilst families and fans wanting something more from their match day can get involved and generate greater revenues. 

 

As has already been said by @DavieG I would guess that we will see the creation of either a venue space behind the East stand or a fan village experience for match days. I wouldn't anticipate any great reduction in ticket prices but hopefully we'll see younger fans attending on a regular basis.

[urban.spaceman]

What I would like, from the quite likely to obviously daft, in no particular order:

10-15K more seats

A second tier added on all around the stadium, with hospitality all around the top and the design kept consistent.

Rail seating for the Kop. 

Improved concourse facilities, with more space and lighting.

Redesign on the East Stand facia, making it look as good as the West stand. 

Improved approach on Raw Dykes Road. Knock down the electricity place and Staples shops opposite. Pedestrianise that and Filbert Way. Extra food/drink/shop facilities everywhere.

Monorail to the train station & city centre.

Turn the Old Filbert Street site into a fan village, with a scaled down replica of the old stadium that people can watch holograms of classic matches at.

Statue of Wes & Claudio with the PL trophy.

Clear the banks of the River Soar and make it accessible to the public as a beauty spot with food & drink facilities.

Make it easier for us to intimidate the away team bus ala Liverpool.

Use the PA system to pump in extra atmosphere just to annoy Sunderland away fans.

 

[Red Squirrel]

On 4/7/2018 at 11:49, Cardiff_Fox said:

I agree with you in principle Webbo but there’s going to be a corporate side to it and that will generate money, alongside the ticketing sale. Won’t make a dent mind. But adds to the ‘prestige of it all’

Exactly. I'm very fortunate to travel overseas with my job and have a brilliant Mexican arm of my family courtesy of mine son marrying a super girl from Mexico who is a huge City fan, as is the whole of her family in Mexico City - all 300 of them, Her Dad has more shirts and stuff than I have! When I tell people I am a Leicester supporter (for over 50 years) wherever I am people know who we are, we won the league and they were rooting for us. The bigger stadium is not simply about the seats, it is part of growing the whole club, inc the corporate hospitality and sponsorship. We hare a large catchment area and no reason for local kids took beyond Leicester anymore.  The owners have been and continue to be fantastic. We are lucky to have them and their firepower.

 

Also whilst I'm at it - we are definitely NOT a small club anymore to all those folk on here who think we still are (and I swear some would like to see us back in the championship - where we belong )We are currently one of the richest 20 in the world, playing in the most lucrative league with massive global interest and arguably the 7th or 8th largest club in that league.

 

I want my team to be as successful as possible on and off the pitch and every little boy and girl born in Leics become a fan and experience the utterly brilliant time we have had, particularly in the last 6 years. One of the greatest experiences of my life which would be something I'd love my 16 month old grandson to be part of again one day!

[Stadt]

Ticket sales don't add a lot to the finances but hospitality packages do, Arsenal have the highest match day revenue across all clubs worldwide. Unfortunately the expansion will likely cater to the prawn sandwich brigade but because that's where the money is.

[lee7]

I just hope if or when this happens they dedicate a certain part of the stadium to the fans that wish to create an atmosphere. 

 

As long as we are in the premiership then it is definitely warranted. The biggest worry is if we get relegated playing matches in a big stadium with so many empty seats. 

[fazzyfox]

I don't think you can use current attendences to project future ones, having extra seats would bring a culture change where you can decide closer to the day to go along and could buy consecutive seats for friends and family. Tourists and visitors can buy tickets and perhaps the club could retain a priority membership scheme where the initial premium (membership fee) can be offset by a small discount in ticket price as incentive to book early but retain the ability to have priority choice of seats (after STH's). Making it easier to get a ticket increases interest and by regularly having the opportunity to decide nearer the time means people can make a more qualified decision on bringing in more people from their friends and family that currently can't wait for the chance of a general sale to be sat nowhere near the member friend who bought early.

 

Having said that it could go the other way. If we lose to Burnley and feel it's season over would everyone still buy a Southampton ticket had they not bought one five weeks ago? Then there's the problems of away fans buying up home tickets without restrictive membership schemes.

 

Would the amount of STH's increase perhaps in ratio to current level and would we have a commitment to offer more seats to away fans if required?

 

As for facilities I'd like to think that if for example the East stand is extended upwards and therefore deeper as well that in the middle levels as well as Restaurants and function rooms there could be space for a museum area like the New Walk exhibit containing the video screens, photo's, papers and Robert Huth.

 

I get the feeling that the owners like the fan park idea, a permanent version of what we've seen occasionally in the past. 

 

 

[Countryfox]

Still miles away and only mentioned cus it was the lads birthday ... 

[Sol thewall Bamba]

On 07/04/2018 at 14:48, urban.spaceman said:

What I would like, from the quite likely to obviously daft, in no particular order:

10-15K more seats

A second tier added on all around the stadium, with hospitality all around the top and the design kept consistent.

Rail seating for the Kop. 

Improved concourse facilities, with more space and lighting.

Redesign on the East Stand facia, making it look as good as the West stand. 

Improved approach on Raw Dykes Road. Knock down the electricity place and Staples shops opposite. Pedestrianise that and Filbert Way. Extra food/drink/shop facilities everywhere.

Monorail to the train station & city centre.

Turn the Old Filbert Street site into a fan village, with a scaled down replica of the old stadium that people can watch holograms of classic matches at.

Statue of Wes & Claudio with the PL trophy.

Clear the banks of the River Soar and make it accessible to the public as a beauty spot with food & drink facilities.

Make it easier for us to intimidate the away team bus ala Liverpool.

Use the PA system to pump in extra atmosphere just to annoy Sunderland away fans.

 

This is spot on for me.

[urban.spaceman]

1 hour ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

This is spot on for me.

BUILD THAT MONORAIL!

[Sol thewall Bamba]

7 hours ago, urban.spaceman said:

BUILD THAT MONORAIL!

[KrefelderFox666]

On 4/7/2018 at 12:21, FrankieADZ said:

as much as its good to hear that they are looking to expand the ground, the ground still wont be full for the so called "lesser" games, and we'll still get people moaning they cant get a ticket......

 

its good on the whole though for the club

In principle, probably agree that we will struggle to sell out against lesser opposition. The main positive is that instead of offering 23,500 season tickets, we can then offer almost 30,000. And the demand for those is there. So worst case we would still have attendances of 36/37,000 every match.

[Guest MattP]

Was Saturday actually a sell out? A few people replied to me here saying it was.

There must have been 300 empty seats in the West Stand, are some people just not bothering to turn up anymore?

[Finnegan]

On 07/04/2018 at 12:31, FoxesDeb said:

It's probably already been said, but hopefully this will mean the end of the over priced membership scheme. Those of us who want season tickets should be able to get them, and those who only want to go as and when they can should be able to buy tickets without having to pay for the opportunity, and there will hopefully be plenty to go round. 

 

Sounds lovely but to pull that off consistently means having a little bit more supply than demand, or at very least running close. 

 

Which means empty seats and a drop in atmosphere, not an improvement. 

[davieG]

Empty seats doesn't automatically mean a drop in atmosphere I've been to plenty of games in the past where there's been empty seats and the atmosphere has been excellent.

 

Don't people always say it's those that are the most vocal that will always attend. Expanding the stadium provides an opportunity for new vocalists to attend on a regular basis, last years kids are next years late teens early 20s and are being denied the opportunity to become long term regular fans

 

Surely the most significant impact on atmosphere anyway is what is happening on the pitch and the status of the team with respect to possible achievements (and incompetent refs)

[Ted Maul]

26 minutes ago, davieG said:

Empty seats doesn't automatically mean a drop in atmosphere I've been to plenty of games in the past where there's been empty seats and the atmosphere has been excellent.

 

Don't people always say it's those that are the most vocal that will always attend. Expanding the stadium provides an opportunity for new vocalists to attend on a regular basis, last years kids are next years late teens early 20s and are being denied the opportunity to become long term regular fans

 

Surely the most significant impact on atmosphere anyway is what is happening on the pitch and the status of the team with respect to possible achievements (and incompetent refs)

Middlesbrough at home when it had snowed was one of the best atmospheres for years, and there were barely 10,000 there.

[Sol thewall Bamba]

39 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

Which means empty seats and a drop in atmosphere

These two points are completely unrelated, I'm sorry. 

[Finnegan]

Just now, Sol thewall Bamba said:

These two points are completely unrelated, I'm sorry. 

 

Well no, they aren't really, are they? 

 

Are bums in seats alone enough to create an atmosphere? No and nor did anyone say they are. 

 

But do more and more empty seats contribute to a worse atmosphere? Yes, they do. 

 

There's really not an argument to the contrary to be fair. 

[sylofox]

So I'm guessing all those not wanting this in case we get relegated will never buy a house or new car.

 

After all no job is guaranteed safe or perhaps your loaded so will just pay cash.

[stripeyfox]

Will be very interesting to see what happens with this. Expansion and improvement to the stadium would be most welcome.

 

Definitely need to do something with transport links, or even just widening the approaches. 

 

Improvements to concourses would be good as well, something to encourage people to come early and stay after is a way of increasing match day revenues.

 

Shame we can't knock down the adjoining buildings and build a brand new Spurs style stadium and then we can all moan when our season tickets cost £1000!