Stadium expansion

[Sol thewall Bamba]

1 hour ago, Ashley said:

I've said it before on here. I'll say it again. 

 

People aren't going currently because at the majority of games only single seats remain. So mates can't go together. 

 

We need to adopt an approach similar to what West Ham did with the London Stadium to future proof ££ to the club. 

 

You can only get a ST if you buy it for 5 years, payable by DD. 

 

40k is the first expansion anyway... should we need it, we can expand above that.. 

There are scores of tickets together for upcoming games. 

 

Tickets aren't selling because the football is crap, there are too many barriers to entry and the tickets are too expensive. 

[VLC86]

18 hours ago, Stadt said:

For the big 6 I’d imagine it makes sense because they have large ST waiting lists, international members, tourists and non-local fans. The structure of our support is different to that.

 

I’ve heard of multiple occasions where people didn’t even know they could get a ticket, or when they’ve looked - no general sale option has put them off.

 

In the short term, we might shift more memberships but putting off a larger number of casual fans seems to be very short sighted.

Bang on. We aren’t Man United so why are we adopting their approach, horrendous policy by the club.

[SemperEadem]

6 hours ago, Costock_Fox said:

Bang on. We aren’t Man United so why are we adopting their approach, horrendous policy by the club.

If you employ folk from Spurs and PSG you gradually inherit their sales thinking.

[MarriedaLeicesterGirl]

19 hours ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

There are scores of tickets together for upcoming games. 

 

Tickets aren't selling because the football is crap, there are too many barriers to entry and the tickets are too expensive. 

I just looked. Hundreds of tickets available. It's a late game, sure, but it is also half term. They could sell those tickets easy if they tried (and made it simple to do).

[FoyleFox]

1 hour ago, MarriedaLeicesterGirl said:

I just looked. Hundreds of tickets available. It's a late game, sure, but it is also half term. They could sell those tickets easy if they tried (and made it simple to do).

Allowing general sale would be a great start. Utterly ridiculous IMO these aren't available for certain matches. Tonight being a prime example.

[purpleronnie]

why do the club make it is difficult?  Anyone have a theory?

[SemperEadem]

1 hour ago, purpleronnie said:

why do the club make it is difficult?  Anyone have a theory?

To force sales of memberships.

[Gamble92]

The issue with Premier League pricing is it's more or less assumed that every game virtually sells out. Because of season tickets most grounds do. So if any do become available you pay whatever the price is. When we were top 4 no one is passing up the opportunity to pay £40 to see us when it's a one off.

 

The issue you have is when Premier League football is no longer a novelty there are actually so many games that aren't appealing. £42 to watch that game last saturday. In this climate if you taje that in isolation it's laughable. 

 

In pretty much any scenario Man Utd, Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea sell out regardless. The rest, including Spurs, in our position people just won't pay it. The club aren't arsed either. The TV money is way more important than a couple of thousand empty seats.

[Nugent]

The club's ringfencing of tickets when a stadium expansion is on the horizon is just terrible business, the commercial people at the club are absolute clowns. The casual fans they're locking out now by demanding a membership are potential season ticket holders of the future, and they'll be needing their custom when we're struggling to fill the 40,000 seats in a few years.

[Craig]

Worth noting that a lot of the tickets currently on sale aren't actually 'empty' but up for resale. Some may still show up, but I think this is even worse for the club as it shows just how disinterested STH are now - and that's never been the case before. 

 

Sure we've had many empty seats previously, but STH not turning up in force for a crunch Premier League game? Nope. 

 

[davieG]

32 minutes ago, Nugent said:

commercial people at the club are absolute clowns

You get the feeling they've just graduated from Uni and have no real experience in business or knowledge of football.

[Bob Weasel Fox]

Personally I feel the stadium expansion is crucial in the long term for the club to go forward and progress 

[Bayfox]

2 hours ago, Bob Weasel Fox said:

Personally I feel the stadium expansion is crucial in the long term for the club to go forward and progress 

Of course it is. Will bring in good money from.the corporate side of things. And they argue they can make football more affordable by being able to shift more season tickets. But at the same time they make it almost impossible for someone to decide on the day to rock up and buy a ticket despite not selling out.

 

They are in danger of losing those fans. Who may potentially become part of those extra 8000 seats they need to fill to make the expansion not end up a lame duck 

[Sol thewall Bamba]

18 hours ago, davieG said:

You get the feeling they've just graduated from Uni and have no real experience in business or knowledge of football.

They're not, but they come from background at much bigger clubs. 

 

Not sure they've really grasped they're working at a provincial club rather than a capital city clubs yet. 

 

Attendance was formally just over 30K last night, but it looked much emptier than that. Probably 26K home fans at best. 

[Bob Weasel Fox]

1 minute ago, Bayfox said:

Of course it is. Will bring in good money from.the corporate side of things. And they argue they can make football more affordable by being able to shift more season tickets. But at the same time they make it almost impossible for someone to decide on the day to rock up and buy a ticket despite not selling out.

 

They are in danger of losing those fans. Who may potentially become part of those extra 8000 seats they need to fill to make the expansion not end up a lame duck 

I agree

 

i am one of those former season ticket holders and members who now can only go to a few games a season (work most weekends) and need to pick and choose when able to as an adhoc customer as such (it pains me to say but that’s the reality) 

 

in fairness I can see why the club value selling season tickets so highly. When I retire or do a different job then great 

[thesilverfox]

Is anything happening with this? Now nearly mid November and no sign of even preliminary work down there?

 

Surely the 6 week World Cup break would be an ideal time to get started? Makes me wonder whether its actually going to happen?

[David Hankey]

I am not surprised by the lack of action. Soulsby and his cronies took ages to pass this project and in the meantime we all know how the Club's finances have diminished.

 

I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was put on the back burner for a while. Remember also how our season started off and we're not out the woods yet and who in their right mind would want to be seen with the best stadium in the Championship?

[sacreblueits442]

...did someone not post on here that we have missed the window for the builders to take up the contract and they have moved on to other projects!!!

  We took the loan out with the bank and the money is probably sitting there ready to be drawn down when needed. So long as it is still sitting in the Bank's bank account,we would not be paying interest on it, so the cost of the loan is minimised. 

[UHDrive]

On 10/11/2022 at 00:23, sacreblueits442 said:

...did someone not post on here that we have missed the window for the builders to take up the contract and they have moved on to other projects!!!

  We took the loan out with the bank and the money is probably sitting there ready to be drawn down when needed. So long as it is still sitting in the Bank's bank account,we would not be paying interest on it, so the cost of the loan is minimised. 

No window has been missed. As far as I'm aware Laing O'Rourke are in negotiations with King Power for the stadium construction and I assume they have either signed this and waiting for the planning side to be cleared away to start the build, or they are in the process of negotiating the final contract before works commence. 

 

The planners are being total wavkers though with their priorities for the city.

[Sly]

I notice we’re not on the proposed stadium list for the joint 2028 bid for the Euros for Ireland/UK. 

[Hitesh]

23 minutes ago, Sly said:

I notice we’re not on the proposed stadium list for the joint 2028 bid for the Euros for Ireland/UK. 

Disappointing but without the expansion we'd lose out to higher capacity grounds in the Midlands 

[Lako42]

Even with the expansion we won't be big enough

[PhillippaT]

1 minute ago, Lako42 said:

Even with the expansion we won't be big enough

Any bid would require one stadium of at least 60,000 capacity, one or two of at least 50,000 capacity, four of at least 40,000 capacity and three of at least 30,000 capacity.

 

Obviously these are the minimum requirements, though, so...

[An Sionnach]

13th in the premiership capacity list which for a city of 350,000 is far too small and for all the talk of breaking into the top six , the small ground will make that extremely difficult to ever sustain. Arguably as the major club in the E. Midlands ,including Coventry, we should be looking at 45,000 capacity. Let's see some action - now!

[sacreblueits442]

4 hours ago, Lako42 said:

Even with the expansion we won't be big enough

...it will not be size that would dictate, location is a prime attribute!!!

  We have held England games before.