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SOL expansion

Hank Scorpio said:
I defo think we will see a new hotel on the site mate but I reckon behind the scenes the club quite fancy the idea of leasing one of the new buildings at the back of the south stand if they can stop them becoming housing.

Firstly it provides them with the opportunity to move staff out of the SOL/BCH. That of course frees up more room in the SOL and potentially expanding the club shop.

Secondly, it provides them with the opportunity to look at other business opportunities. That whole area is now going to have thousands of people living/working and perhaps they like the idea of a new bar etc.

I thought Bruce’s comments at the recent RAWA meeting were interesting - particularly about “creating our own Wembley way”
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Makes sense be daft for club to miss out on the commercial opportunity, space opposite and upstairs in black cats house could lend itself to a few things , extend shop like you say, or given success of founders a fan bar /hospitality bar/restaurant that is then used non match days with all the residential etc
 

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Mackemansj1 said:
I never understand that thinking anyway, if you’d had told me while I was in a crowd of 11k getting beat off Ipswich in the cup on a freezing Tuesday night at roker that we’d have regular 40k in the second tier and have people waiting for season tickets I’d have laughed in your face. It’s about capitalising on things when they arrive. The momentum is there, football is at its peak, we could attract more gigs etc to a city that’s also in the up. It’s probably perfect time to do it if we stay up this season or next.
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Dont know what it is mate !its weird but there are many who think like that its as it there bothered that other fans take the piss cos we dont fill our ground..(personally i couldnt care less)the sol is a great place to watch footy provided your not fat or very tall but the corporate offerings are poor and the concourse is crowded and to narrow is not up to modern standards..

it needs a upgrade and it will cost tens of millions at a minimum just to sort out the corporate offering a alone!If your going to extend the space for the concourse it makes sense to add stuff like extra seats as it will only cost a small part of the overall build and i think they will regret it in the long run if they dont!

Im not sure folk who want a 65000 seater areana will get their wish but im willing to bet that first class corporate facilities will be created to bring the sol up to modern standards and part of that will involve extra seats thats for sure!If i was a betting man i would bet the sol will end up being a top class facility with around 55-60000 seats
 
garyeaststand said:
Makes sense be daft for club to miss out on the commercial opportunity, space opposite and upstairs in black cats house could lend itself to a few things , extend shop like you say, or given success of founders a fan bar /hospitality bar/restaurant that is then used non match days with all the residential etc
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Going back to when the SOL first opened mate, the Sports Bar was open during the week and it did canny enough trade in an area with limited footfall.

With hundreds of new homes being built in the area (plus a better link to the city with the bridge), I do wonder if the club are thinking about opening a new bar on the site.

Although the club have genuine concerns about housing near the south stand, I do wonder if they are trying to use their influence to get a canny deal.
 
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Hank Scorpio said:
Going back to when the SOL first opened mate, the Sports Bar was open during the week and it did canny enough trade in an area with limited footfall.

With hundreds of new homes being built in the area (plus a better link to the city with the bridge), I do wonder if the club are thinking about opening a new bar on the site.

Although the club have genuine concerns about housing near the south stand, I do wonder if they are trying to use their influence to get a canny deal
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A massive sports bar opposite the south stand would be a gold mine
 
robbie54 said:
What if Everton get relegated.
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It would be interesting to see how they would cope
ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK said:
I keep mentioning that if kids can't get to games then they may not support the lads when they can afford to go as they won't be hooked and just go regardless of us chasing success.

I've just realised there's also that grey area where kids will pick either us or the mags (or a top team) and of those who can't get to the game then they may well choose the mags (or a top team).

Whereas if most kids can go to our games thanks to the capacity and cheap tickets and enjoy the footy up close rather than watching as a plastic on a dodgy Firestick then they may well get hooked and be a lifetime fan. They will also add revenue in other ways as kids given kids usually want SAFC related gear.
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This is why it is very important to get it done as soon as possible because the mags are going to struggle to extend or move. It will take them ages.
 
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JackL said:
It might be now but it wont be if we get relegated. Need to consolidate first. The club know what theyre doing anyway and won't make any investments like that without a likely return on it
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If KLD has access to low interest capital, it’d likely be structured over most of our lifespans. No concerns about PSR, and returns would still come even if we were relegated in the short term IMO
 
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Big Jeff said:
That’s because we had not extended the stadium..

My point proven.
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Pointless me thinks .the stadium will be extended its just a matter of when and i couldnt give a shyte whether we fill it or not as the quality of the facilities will be improved!
 
Sea to Shining Sea said:
Not really!
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Yes really, we have had a ceiling of around 48,000 for years.

We can’t beat it.

It’s all well and good for posters on here to bang on about extending the ground but this type of work costs millions.

Most of you tight wads won’t even stump up 20 quid to become a contributor of the SMB.

But you want the owner to stump up millions to build an extension we won’t fill.

It does not make economic sense.
 
Lord Nigle said:
Hopefully the final plans will be more imaginative and iconic . Especially as the South Stand faces the approach over the Keel bridge
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To my eye those drawings look like they were produced quite a while ago. I would expect plans/renders produced today to look more slick.
 
Big Jeff said:
Yes really, we have had a ceiling of around 48,000 for years.

We can’t beat it.

It’s all well and good for posters on here to bang on about extending the ground but this type of work costs millions.

Most of you tight wads won’t even stump up 20 quid to become a contributor of the SMB.

But you want the owner to stump up millions to build an extension we won’t fill.

It does not make economic sense.
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Could we have sold another five thousands seats last weekend? Yes we could have. Villa sold out within a couple of hours. Could we sell another 5k for that? Yes we could.

Would that demand fall in the second tier? Yes. But the club clearly aren’t thinking about that for the future. And, as pointed out by others, a couple of thousand empty ‘normal’ seats doesn’t make it not economically viable.

The investment required would be repaid forever. There are financiers already with a charge on the property, I’m assuming they’re willing to put the money down to upscale their assets.

By the way, the point about Sunderland supporters not stumping up money? Nonsensical and unnecessary.
 
Sea to Shining Sea said:
Could we have sold another five thousands seats last weekend? Yes we could have. Villa sold out within a couple of hours. Could we sell another 5k for that? Yes we could.

Would that demand fall in the second tier? Yes. But the club clearly aren’t thinking about that for the future. And, as pointed out by others, a couple of thousand empty ‘normal’ seats doesn’t make it not economically viable.

The investment required would be repaid forever. There are financiers already with a charge on the property, I’m assuming they’re willing to put the money down to upscale their assets.

By the way, the point about Sunderland supporters not stumping up money? Nonsensical and unnecessary.
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Why don’t you become a contributor tonight to show your commitment to this valuable resource we all use?
 
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