Raising capacity of St James Park

When I did the stadium tour last year, the guide mentioned that plans were in place ( should the conditions be right) to increase the capacity to 60,000+. This clearly means developing the Gallowgate end as the East Stand cannot be developed as it would block out daylight onto residential housing.

With the massive uptake with these recent ticket sales ( the club must be banking on most of these converting to renewals), the club may well give it a go.

Are we for or against?

Me? I'm for. More fans, more noise, more cash for Ashley I know, but imagine 60,000 every week?

 

I think we would have to be consistently getting full houses with the ground as it is just now before than would even be looked into. With the current recession also I think it would be a non-starter.

 

Would be stupid, we're not filling it at the moment.

 

Yes, these. Better to have 47/48k in a 52k stadium than risk having a 60,000 seater with 10,000 empty seats.

 

Against. I never heard the daylight one about the East Stand, that's a strange one. I just thought they couldn't do it because they would have to knock down the buildings behind.

It would be silly to extend as 52k suits us fine.

 

With the surge of people getting cheap season tickets, could this hit next seasons ST uptake? People may not want to pay full price knowing that in November a cheap deal may be offered at half the cost.

 

Against it, its just not justifiable at present. Its not like we've got some massive waiting list like in the days of 36k capacity.

 

Currently not filling the 52k capacity on a regular basis and haven't for quite a few years so spending £'x' millions to extend doesn't make much sense.

Should we get into Europe on a consistant basis in the future and with the financial fair play rules, as stadium improvements are outside the remit of expenditure, I can see the merits as increased capacity can lead to higher match day revenues but it's not something I see high on the clubs list of priorities at present.

 

We couldnt do that unless we could guarantee 60,000 per game. We cant do that, so it wouldnt pay for itself.

 

Lol and how much would you sell these extra tickets for prolly 2quid like in the last spoetsdirect sale

 

Arent we still paying for the last expansion

 

It's a ye olde law. google 'ancient light'. To sidestep that you'd have to buy the buildings and knock em down but they're grade 2 listed (i think) so you cant do that either.

 

I think the only way we'd regularly fill 60,000 at the moment is to lower ticket prices substantially which isn't going to happen as the club would lose money.

If the average ticket price per match over a season at the minute is £30 (?) x 52,000 = £1,560,000 matchday ticket sales.

If we lowered the average ticket price to £25 x 60,000 = £1,500,000 matchday ticket income.

I'm just guessing at the current average price, but to fill all the seats we'd need cheaper tickets so it's more accessible to more fans. If we sold more cheap seats in a 60,000 seater stadium and sold out every week we'd still be down on revenue. Plus factor in the cost of development and lower attendances when work is getting completed.

When we win the league and CL we'll reconsider

 

If they made a 30,000 capacity pub in Sunderland, which would have the more people in it? SoL or the 'Super Pub'?

 

This

With the current economic climate looking likely to get worse before it gets better, I cannot see any way we could fill a bigger stadium without dramatically reducing prices.

Mike Ashley will want his money back before he starts financing the huge cost of any development and I can't see the banks lending us a penny for this project as they will probably be tightening their lending criteria even further in the near future.

 

its not like you to bite at one of the unwasheds uneducated comments!!!

 

It's Friday and I've got flu like symptoms. Let's blame it on copious amounts of Sudafed and herbal tea

 

Hmm... But there is more to match day revenue than just ticket sales. Think about how much a pie and a pint costs? Always get a beer at half time when i'm at a game, like most people. How many supporters put a cheeky bet on? I know that I do every time I go to a game, and a bigger stadium means you can charge the bookies more money to have a stand.

Not sure about it, but one thing I can be sure of is that Mike and has buds will be going over the numbers very carefully! And if there is money to be made, it'll probably go ahead.

 

Depends if Niall Quinn was the bouncer

 

Think of the queue for getting a drink!