Much as I think St Mary's is way undersized [always have from day one, so don't jump], a large stadium is more of a symbol than a necessity these days. The revenue from gate receipts is the added bit on the bottom after TV money, merchandising, advertising, sponsors, etc, have weighed in heavily. What WHU will manage to do is to get everyone else to pay for their symbol and still keep the identity to themselves, so that merchandise, advertising and sponsorship are boosted and the extra pays the pathetic amount of annual rent. In that they have a substantial leg-up over other teams.
As far as I know, that £2.5M p.a. they pay for the next 99 years doesn't even rise with inflation, so in 20, 30, 50 years time it might be insignificant. It's tiny enough now. makes you wonder what the annual outgoings are on an owned stadium of a similar size. If TV ever falls out of love with football, WHU will be well positioned. But as a major revenue earner in terms of gate receipts, at the moment, it is near the bottom.
