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SOL expansion


Dog in a pram said:
The SOL is the right size. Even if we were to establish ourselves in the prem demand will stabilise after the novelty has worn off.
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I agree but it doesn’t have sufficient corporate or hospitality areas. The SOL needs extending but not for another tiering of seating but for boxes and suites and bar areas. Concourses are also very dated and need enlarging.
 
THE CLOCKSTAND CLOCK said:
Even as a second division club we used to get crowds of over 60,000 .So imagine what we could get if we got a sniff of success.Oh don’t forget 50% of our catchment area is whater.
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Neebosh said:
That was when there were limited varieties of entertainment though. Nowt else to do, so go to the football. Once technology developed and people could be entertained in other ways crowds dropped off - same as the Cinema, Theatre, Bowling etc.
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Not forgetting that some non SAFC went to the game to see the opposition, so we'd get mags going to our games and vice versa. It's why we'd get high crowds yet the average was only in the 40,000 as the gap between highest and average was far greater than it is now. According to posters comments on here it was even happening in the 70s where people would go to both ours and the mags games

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Sporty said:
Not forgetting that some non SAFC went to the game to see the opposition, so we'd get mags going to our games and vice versa. It's why we'd get high crowds yet the average was only in the 40,000 as the gap between highest and average was far greater than it is now

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There did used to be some huge drop offs in attendances back in the past one week there could be 50/60,000 .The next home game barely getting into the mid 20s .
 
Inside Forward said:
Looking at the demand for tickets at the moment it makes you wonder just what this club could be with a sustained run of relative success.
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Personally i think if we were in the champions league we could fill 55000 but i just dont think there are enough people interested in footy(or not using IPTV to get their fix)in our catchment area to fill the ground consistently!That doesnt mean we shouldnt extend to 6500 as im sure in the long run it will pay for itself and fill for concerts and one off games. Im not being overly brave or anything but i must state I dont fear empty seats unlike many of our more timid brethren!My motto is if it makes business sense build it otherwise dont!
 
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Football Dinosaur said:
You may have missed the rugby and concerts recently amongst other events it's used for. The bridge links that area like never before. If we want to grow as a club and improve ffp etc we need to make it a 24/7 events space.
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When was the last rugby match mate, and the last concert?

24/7 events space at The Stadium Light? What sort of thing do you think they'll put on, and what extra infrastructure will be required to achieve it?
 
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AndrewP said:
When was the last rugby match mate, and the last concert?

24/7 events space at The Stadium Light? What sort of thing do you think they'll put on, and what extra infrastructure will be required to achieve it?
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The rugby is literally just after the bridge opens in August. They're having a year off converts as the ground is in a poor state and needs further work to attract the big names. As has been explained previously in the thread it's a huge moneyspinner for the club to get these events. It also puts the city on the map and increases the value of the owners asset. The facilities and therefore capacity will increase imo question is when.
 
Football Dinosaur said:
The rugby is literally just after the bridge opens in August.
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So how come I missed a recent rugby game that hasn't yet taken place, or was there another?
Football Dinosaur said:
They're having a year off converts as the ground is in a poor state and needs further work to attract the big names.
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Do you have a source for that? I knew there wasn't any this year, but I didn't realise it was because the stadium is in a poor state.
Football Dinosaur said:
As has been explained previously in the thread it's a huge moneyspinner for the club to get these events. It also puts the city on the map and increases the value of the owners asset. The facilities and therefore capacity will increase imo question is when.
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No doubt, but even if we get concerts it's not going to be a 24/7 entertainment venue like someone said. It'll be a football stadium with a few concerts a year. It'll always primarily be a football stadium.
 
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Sporty said:
Not forgetting that some non SAFC went to the game to see the opposition, so we'd get mags going to our games and vice versa. It's why we'd get high crowds yet the average was only in the 40,000 as the gap between highest and average was far greater than it is now. According to posters comments on here it was even happening in the 70s where people would go to both ours and the mags games

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Click to expand...
Also, and this really relevant to this particular debate, the ground then (Roker) could hold up to 70,000, so the highest attendance could be far in excess of the average.

The ground now (SoL) can only hold 48,000, so the highest attendance will never be far greater than the average.

If the SoL were extended to its 63,000 limit then you may see similar gaps between highest and average attendances.
 
Paul3845 said:
Also, and this really relevant to this particular debate, the ground then (Roker) could hold up to 70,000, so the highest attendance could be far in excess of the average.

The ground now (SoL) can only hold 48,000, so the highest attendance will never be far greater than the average.

If the SoL were extended to its 63,000 limit then you may see similar gaps between highest and average attendances.
Click to expand...
Good point though the difference being our lowest crowds are higher than the past by a long way surely?

If we'd been selling out the SOL then aye this would limit the gap but Reidy seasons apart and at a guess, the range is usually 35,000 to 45,000 and average 40k?

:edit: I just remembered this website as it shows what I mean in the last 3 seasons as we've had at least 35,000 and not really been to capacity more than the odd game in that time.

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No idea why we can’t just get the east stand to mirror the west stand in the immediate future, especially if we survive this year and next, then at least we can extend the concourse areas a bit downstairs and increase our corporate offering.

Move the away fans back downstairs, make the north stand the home end, would be epic and wouldn’t cost too much considering the basic infrastructure is already there.
 
I think Sunderland as a whole needs better transport links for SAFC to have higher crowds on a long term basis. Mags have the metro for the T & W area but then any County Durham mags just need to get to Durham or darlo and they have the option of a direct train right into the city centre. It’s so easy especially when they’re doing well. Conversely Sunderland is trickier to get to. No decent direct rail links and the buses go all over so take ages. Even parking near the ground has become harder in recent years due to permit areas. As soon as we start to struggle it becomes a chore and attendances drop off. SAFC have a large % of match goers from all over the region but not the infrastructure to back it up. I think its a shame because that will always hold us back crowd wise and money will never be spent to make Sunderland an easier place to get to.
 
Paul3845 said:
Also, and this really relevant to this particular debate, the ground then (Roker) could hold up to 70,000, so the highest attendance could be far in excess of the average.

The ground now (SoL) can only hold 48,000, so the highest attendance will never be far greater than the average.

If the SoL were extended to its 63,000 limit then you may see similar gaps between highest and average attendances.
Click to expand...
We saw similar in L1. 40k+ (46k maybe?) high and lows in the 20s.
 
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Sporty said:
Not forgetting that some non SAFC went to the game to see the opposition, so we'd get mags going to our games and vice versa. It's why we'd get high crowds yet the average was only in the 40,000 as the gap between highest and average was far greater than it is now. According to posters comments on here it was even happening in the 70s where people would go to both ours and the mags games

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Click to expand...
That stopped in the early to mid 60s mate.

The 70s was super violent.
 
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