Newcastle United have 'big' PSR lever to pull with stadium dream as club take 'sensible' step

Newcastle United can 'differentiate themselves' with a bigger stadium as the club attempt to significantly boost revenues.

That is the view of football finance expert Professor Robert Wilson after Newcastle set out to reach a decision on the long-term future of St James' Park by early next year. Brad Miller, Newcastle's chief operation officer, has called it a 'once in a generation investment' and insisted that the chosen scheme, whether it is an expansion, redevelopment or move elsewhere, 'must provide an investable return and not least deliver strong revenue growth to increase our PSR headroom'.

Newcastle, for context, made £37.9m in match day income when the club qualified for the Champions League the season before last. In contrast, Spurs, who have the second biggest stadium in the Premier League, generated £117.6m in match receipts in the same period.

READ MORE: Newcastle United avoided 'big crisis' in the summer as team for the future is hailed

READ MORE: £423m worry hands Newcastle United transfer opportunity amid Premier League interest

You can see why Christopher Lee, the architect who helped design the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, has said that match day revenue is the 'big lever' that Premier League clubs have to boost turnovers. Not least when broadcast revenues are centrally negotiated and sponsorship deals are increasingly competitive as Professor Wilson explained.

"The disparity between a Newcastle United that are getting 52,000-plus in every week versus a Tottenham Hotspur, who are in that purpose-built new stadium, is quite sizeable," he told ChronicleLive.

"The reality is there are three different sources of revenue. The TV money is essentially fixed unless they qualify and go deep into a European competition. Commercial and sponsorship revenue is naturally a little bit up in the air albeit after the associated party transaction case, they might be able to nudge that a little bit, but it will still have to represent fair market value.

"The one thing they can really do to differentiate themselves is to generate more money either through match day ticket sales, match day spending or a combination of the two, which is why it [exploring options] is a sensible and logical step."

It is worth stressing that Spurs' most affordable season ticket is an eye-watering £856 but, in addition to match day revenue, the Londoners have also turned their stadium into a multi-use venue to help bring in even more money into the club. Beyoncé's five-night run last year was the highest-grossing concert ever staged by a female artist at the time; the ground is the official home of the NFL in the UK and plays host to the world's first F1 branded electric karting experience; and a 180-room hotel is set to be built on site to support Spurs' conference and events business.