Newcastle United’s stadium decision creeps ever closer as the club’s top brass begin to finalise plans to either stay at or leave St James’ Park. A wealth of factors will be taken into consideration before any final answer, such as location, attendance, planning permissions, profit and sustainability – and definitely the cost.
Recent reports suggest a new, city centre venue could cost Newcastle over £1.2bn to build. This is working under the assumption any new stadium is built close to St James’ Park current location, with the majority of the new ground standing on the current Leazes Park.
However, extending stadiums is no cheap fix either. Newcastle’s Premier League rivals have learned first-hand the costliness of adding capacity, more on-site facilities and renovating old parts of their ground. Similar reports of late, including one from the Telegraph, suggest increasing St James’ Park by around 10,000 seats could cost close to £800m.
But what have Newcastle’s top flight counterparts done in the past – and what can be learned from their own stadium choices?
It is worth going back to one of the early stadium projects of the 21st century: when Arsenal swapped Highbury for the Emirates Stadium. The north London venue, which can hold more than 60,000 fans cost £390m to build – which is equivalent to £518m today due to inflation.
Construction began in 2004 and was completed in 2006 in what was a pretty smooth transition. Arsenal’s profits, naturally, soared due to increased matchday capabilities but the Gunners did saddle themselves with hefty repayments that ultimately stunted Arsene Wenger’s side’s progress for a number of years.
One Arsenal employee, speaking to Chronicle Live anonymously, said: “We were effectively paying off a huge mortgage. And happened at the time when other teams suddenly had infinite wealth, Chelsea then Man City obviously.
“But more people get to watch games, obviously. Vastly more matchday revenue can be generated because of the extensive hospitality areas. We definitely needed the increase in capacity – we even need it for women’s games now.
“I think most supporters are quite heartened with how the club have ‘done the right thing’ with all of the development of the stadium too such as the statues and the fantastic new artwork around the stadium.”
Lucrative matchday revenue is a big plus in the column of a new stadium. Newcastle have already drastically improved their own matchday income, as well as their total overall revenue since the 2021 takeover.
The Deloitte Money League recently revealed the Magpies had increased their total annual revenue from £250m to £314m, with more potentially awaiting further down the tracks with a plush new stadium that can act as more than a football venue.
Tottenham Hotspur have led the way on this, with their new stadium proving capable of hosting other sporting events, incredible concerts and becoming a hotspot for pre and post-game entertainment. The London club reported year-on-year revenue growth of 24 per cent to £549.6m during the year to June 30, 2023.
“The stadium is a destination. People will come hours before kick-off, enjoy the plethora of food and drinks outlets – reasonably priced too – and then stay long after matches. It’s a real hub and I couldn’t imagine the stadium not being like it is now,” one Tottenham fan told Chronicle Live recently.
However, this came at a cost, with Spurs shelling out £1.2bn for their new location in recent years. This, after initial costings estimated it would take just £250m to build the new, state of the art venue.
In recent years, these sorts of projects have often spiralled well beyond the initial costings. For example, Everton’s new Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium was initially costed at £500m but will end up at more than £800m.
In terms of renovation costs, Liverpool’s Anfield Road Stand extension – which was completed in 2024 and saw the Reds expand their stadium to 61,000 – set the Merseyside outfit back £100m, with an extra £20m in additional costs related to the initial contractors going into administration.
Manchester City are also in the process of adding to their capacity at the Etihad, with new commercial and entertainment buildings and a fan zone being constructed next to the North Stand too, and is estimated at £300m. For that price, the Premier League champions are expected to build restaurants, a museum, a new club shop and a 400-bed hotel, while increasing their capacity from 53,400 to nearly 62,000.
For all the vast outlays it would take to change location, Newcastle chiefs have hinted it may well be worth it. A lavish new site, with no expense spared, has the opportunity to drastically increase the revenue brought into the club – as seen particularly with Tottenham…
Chief Operating Officer, Brad Miller, confirmed as much recently: “The second option, we are looking at it seriously as it does have the potential to earn more than twice as much in terms of revenue, compared to a transformation of St James’ Park. And more seats, a lot more seats potentially.”
So, will Newcastle take the plunge and splash the cash? We’ll know in the coming weeks or months…
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-united-stadium-cost-truth-31099390
