Arsenal's 'treble' stadium upgrade as Newcastle face £64.7m task after Amanda Staveley admission
Arsenal are exploring ways to further boost match day revenues - which highlights the challenge Newcastle United face to close the gap on the established order.
Arsenal, who it must be stressed have some of the most expensive season tickets in the country, earned a whopping £102.6m from games at the Emirates in 2022-23. Newcastle, for context, generated £37.9m in match day income in the same period, which represents a considerable £64.7m difference.
Although the Emirates only opened in 2006, as the second biggest stadium in the Premier League at the time, Spurs, West Ham and Liverpool have since leapfrogged Arsenal in terms of capacity while Manchester City will also have a bigger ground next season. Newcastle, who hope to make a decision on the club's next step with St James' Park by early next year, have also tumbled down the list of the biggest arenas in the country in the last two decades.
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Clearly, in a PSR world, the need for clubs to boost revenues through their stadium has never been greater as Chris Maddison, who is the head of food and beverage at Populous, explained.
"We're doing a project at the moment with Emirates Stadium that opened nearly 20 years ago," he told the Leaders in Sport conference. "Delaware North do a phenomenal job in the space given, but the demand for food and drink has grown so much more.
"We're doing a redesign project on the main production kitchen to treble it in size. That space is necessary to deliver the extra revenues that are being demanded, but it comes down to space. It's how we allocate that space and use that space, which obviously links itself very closely with cost."
Amanda Staveley once admitted there needed to be a 'significant investment in food and beverage' at St James' - it is worth pointing out that the Stack has since opened - and the former Newcastle owner said the Magpies 'desperately' needed to invest in the stadium to make it 'fit for purpose'. Newcastle have challenged their design team to make sure the club's chosen stadium scheme delivers a 'fantastic fan experience', whether that is an expansion, redevelopment or move elsewhere.
Spurs, for instance, offer some of the best fan facilities in the country, including Europe's longest bar and an on-site microbrewery, and a typical supporter will spend around eight times as much per game than they did at the club's former home at White Hart Lane. However, the most affordable adult season ticket at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is an eye-watering £856 while the Londoners are even removing the concession for new season ticket holders aged 65 and older from next season.
In contrast, Darren Curry is among those on a 10-year plan at St James', dating back to the Ashley era, and the Geordie pays £990 for three season tickets for his family. Curry has predicted the price will eventually 'go to £2,000 or even more - and that's life' but having felt that Spurs 'priced a lot of their fans out', the co-founder of the Newcastle United Supporters Club warned last week: "We're not a London club. When these 10-year plans end, I think a lot of people will struggle."