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SOL expansion

Timings is everything but incredibly difficult to get right.

We could stabilise with three years in the prem, plan our extension then it could easily go to shit.

Look at Wolves and especially Forest, who are going for an extension/rebuild on the back of a couple of good years and then boom, look at the state of them at the moment.

I think we should crack on with expansion and remodelling the concourses ready for at least next season because you cannot assume what your status will be in a few years time so take advantage of the current situation.
 

JackL said:
Current mood and a feel good factor isn't a sound reason to expand. Clear progression and stability in this league and consistent sell outs over more than one season is
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If our owners are as ambitious and competent as they appear to be then we don't need to worry about what will happen down the line.

Only the very top teams can safely say they won't have to worry about relegation over the next few years but we cannot sit on our hands too long if we want to progress.
 
JackL said:
Current mood and a feel good factor isn't a sound reason to expand. Clear progression and stability in this league and consistent sell outs over more than one season is
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agreed , look at Everton they've been crying out for a new stadium for years.
1000's on the waiting list and its not as if they've been pulling up trees for years in this league. been honking the place out for the last decade but still have the demand and went and built a stadium that makes sure they have enough seats to make money and sell out every game without killing the whole demand for tickets. (Of course they could of built bigger if they wanted)


then look at west ham , that place was empty last night and has been alot of this season , it was only 1 year ago they won a European trophy.

we need to grow our demand for tickets first. building an extension on the east stand just kills all the demand.

it might sound stupid but ideally we want people locked out the ground and not being able to get tickets whenever they like.
 
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shootsitgoeswide said:
agreed , look at Everton they've been crying out for a new stadium for years.
1000's on the waiting list and its not as if they've been pulling up trees for years in this league. been honking the place out for the last decade but still have the demand and went and built a stadium that makes sure they have enough seats to make money and sell out every game without killing the whole demand for tickets. (Of course they could of built bigger if they wanted)


then look at west ham , that place was empty last night and has been alot of this season , it was only 1 year ago they won a European trophy.

we need to grow our demand for tickets first. building an extension on the east stand just kills all the demand.

it might sound stupid but ideally we want people locked out the ground and not being able to get tickets whenever they like.
Click to expand...

Some people are already struggling for tickets now.

General sale for some matches are selling out within minutes and weeks in advance.
 
shootsitgoeswide said:
agreed , look at Everton they've been crying out for a new stadium for years.
1000's on the waiting list and its not as if they've been pulling up trees for years in this league. been honking the place out for the last decade but still have the demand and went and built a stadium that makes sure they have enough seats to make money and sell out ever game without killing the whole demand for tickets. (Of course they could of built bigger if they wanted)


then look at west ham , that place was empty last night and has been alot of this season , it was only 1 year ago they won a European trophy.

we need to grow our demand for tickets first. building an extension on the east stand just kills all the demand.

it might sound stupid but ideally we want people locked out the ground and not being able to get tickets whenever they like.
Click to expand...
Yeah I think its been too easy to get tickets for years so some people don't value them much. You see it with the cup games and the amount that don't turn up mid-week etc. There's nothing wrong with selling out and having people locked out as it will increase the value of actually obtaining a ticket
 
shootsitgoeswide said:
agreed , look at Everton they've been crying out for a new stadium for years.
1000's on the waiting list and its not as if they've been pulling up trees for years in this league. been honking the place out for the last decade but still have the demand and went and built a stadium that makes sure they have enough seats to make money and sell out every game without killing the whole demand for tickets. (Of course they could of built bigger if they wanted)


then look at west ham , that place was empty last night and has been alot of this season , it was only 1 year ago they won a European trophy.

we need to grow our demand for tickets first. building an extension on the east stand just kills all the demand.

it might sound stupid but ideally we want people locked out the ground and not being able to get tickets whenever they like.
Click to expand...
I don't think the ownership are particularly bothered about the few thousand seats you'd get with the extension. The revenue unlocked from the extra hospitality space is what they will be wanting to capture. Apart from 76 yards that has a much much larger demand.

Personally I would love a bar like founders that can be an upgrade for season ticket holders on a game by game basis.
 
JackL said:
Yeah I think its been too easy to get tickets for years so some people don't value them much. You see it with the cup games and the amount that don't turn up mid-week etc. There's nothing wrong with selling out and having people locked out as it will increase the value of actually obtaining a ticket
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There’s a thing called “supply and demand” which determines the price.
The scenario you describe could rule out many potential supporters attending, on the cost rather than availability.
I know your definition of “value” was maybe not price, but more seats will give the club the opportunity to sell at affordable prices.
The real money comes from the hospitality/corporate.
Let’s get it done.
 
Wearson said:
There’s a thing called “supply and demand” which determines the price.
The scenario you describe could rule out many potential supporters attending, on the cost rather than availability.
I know your definition of “value” was maybe not price, but more seats will give the club the opportunity to sell at affordable prices.
The real money comes from the hospitality/corporate.
Let’s get it done.
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Like i have said before a large part of our catchment area is shared with the Saudis.

We need to make the effort to ensure the younguns in these areas come to Sunderland rather than the darkside. It ultimately depends on what is happening on the pitch but having affordable tickets available has to be a good thing.
 
I image we'd do the south stand much like the Etihad below, just build behind it. Like we did with the North stand...

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RedandWhiteRebel said:
Like i have said before a large part of our catchment area is shared with the Saudis.

We need to make the effort to ensure the younguns in these areas come to Sunderland rather than the darkside. It ultimately depends on what is happening on the pitch but having affordable tickets available has to be a good thing.
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This!

All those thinking we can just up the price to lower demand so no need to expand don't realise the most important factor is the next generation of fans. If we restrict access to kids then kids who miss out may not go when there at an age the can afford it and possibly never.

I've always wanted to start a thread to ask how old people were when they started going as I bet loads will have been young and going with parents/relatives an no doubt some are now taking their own kids.

So what if they extend the South Stand, they can easily keep prices the same and reduce the kids prices. That will tempt parents to take the kids but it means they're more likely to follow SAFC no matter what over the following years.

If kids can't go to our game then aye there's a chance they may be tempted to follow the mags on TV as they're 'bigger' at the moment. If the kid can go to the SOL then they could end up a lifelong fan but if not and they live in 50/50 areas or even 60/40 they may well still go to the dark side.

Also bear in mind that it's not just tickets that the club benefit from. The kids will also be wanting footy tops and all other kinds of SAFC related stuff which again is revenue to the club. Lose them to the dark side you lose the revenue as kids can't go to the games so possibly end up choosing the mags to watch on TV.

At the mags place now, there's very little chance a parent can now take their kid to the game. Therefore loads of kids will be missing out being able to go watch the Premier League players in real life that they see on FIFA playing the playstation/xbox etc.

We've had this model in place before to get the kids in cheap and we've reaped the benefits in recent years. This is why we've had such high crowds in the 8 seasons out of the Premier League even after 5 seasons in League One. Fans end up going to the match for the social occasion as they've grown up with going to the ground and it's part of their routine as it isn't all about footy, it's being with relatives/mates etc.
 
Ava Ava Ava said:
Timings is everything but incredibly difficult to get right.

We could stabilise with three years in the prem, plan our extension then it could easily go to shit.

Look at Wolves and especially Forest, who are going for an extension/rebuild on the back of a couple of good years and then boom, look at the state of them at the moment.

I think we should crack on with expansion and remodelling the concourses ready for at least next season because you cannot assume what your status will be in a few years time so take advantage of the current situation.
Click to expand...
Don’t have to look past us, think we were into our third season of near the end of the second when we started the extension and went down within a season or so of it opening. Like you say there will never be a “perfect” time we could wait till we look settled like you say and it goes tits up. If we stay up I think they will be seriously thinking of pulling the trigger.
 
The demand is there now. As has been previously said, general sale tickets are selling out pretty quickly after going on sale. Speaking from personal experience, I'd have been tempted to go to some of the home games this season, had I have been able to get a ticket a few days before and not have to plan weeks ahead. I used to have a season ticket for years (back to the Roker Park days) but gave it up a few years ago and accept now that its going to be hard to get tickets. Extending would bring back casual match goers, that I am now apart of, as well as the corporate benefits. Its a no brainer, really.
 
Mackemansj1 said:
Don’t have to look past us, think we were into our third season of near the end of the second when we started the extension and went down within a season or so of it opening. Like you say there will never be a “perfect” time we could wait till we look settled like you say and it goes tits up. If we stay up I think they will be seriously thinking of pulling the trigger.
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I think we should go for it now. I have had a season card since stadium opened and I can’t get tickets now for my grandkids who are now almost old enough to start going.
I’m sure that there will be multiple people in the same situation as myself even if it’s only 1000 that’s a list of over 3 thousand currently not able to go 🤷🏼‍♂️get it extended
 
scott934 said:
Why did Murray build a 42,000 seater stadium when we'd been averaging less than half of that for years?
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We hadn’t though, we’d been pretty much filling the SOL since it opened. Some crowds in the first half of the first SOL season were a bit lower but as the season progressed it was filling and if you watch highlights back it was often just the away end that had empty seats. Wasn’t a crowd below 35k in the second half of the season and bearing in mind the 3k away allocation + hospitality and segregation that meant the 41k or so was pretty much full.

Example: this match had 35k there

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Edit: misread your post, thought you were asking why we extended it again when we’d been averaging less than half a few years before.
 
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