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SOL expansion

oddbod said:
logic bypass mate!.. if they are going to spend millions on structural change increasing corporate offerings it makes financial and logical sense to add extra seats even if its only utilised for concerts or a small number of games......it would be madness not to as the seats would be a small part of the overall cost.I take it you suffer from the empty seat phobia like many on here?
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The stadium is big enough as it is, that's really all there is to it
 

cornish cat said:
If anyone needs another reason to wonder why SAFC are special:
It's worth noting that Sunderland and County Durham have relatively low population increases over the last 20 years compared to cities and most big towns around the country. Much is made of Villa on this thread - with Birmingham alone increasing in population by around 110,000 in the last 10 years. The West Midlands has just under 3 million people in it, and the area has increased at over 6% over the last 10 years.
Our club has done amazing in recruiting fans from the County, from afar, and from Sunderland with comparatively low population growth. We have to work harder at increasing our attendance than most other big clubs (as many are from large population-dense places with vastly beneficial population increases).

My conclusion: Many big clubs have more fans over the last 20 years because there ARE more fans in those areas. Sunderland also has more fans, but without the same population growth.

Therefore Sunderland are the dog's bollocks.
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Has the local dog population been growing then?
JackL said:
The stadium is big enough as it is, that's really all there is to it
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I agree that the standard seating capacity is just about sufficient, but the infrastructure and the match day experience is far from being as good as it could be with further investment.
 
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Cuddles said:
Personally, I'd like to see money sunk into improvement on the concourse rather than any big expansion.

Think it's inevitable considering hospitality was sold out last year that they want to increase capacity there.

What I would say is I think our support has actually improved since we were last in the Premier League. To average over 40k last season in the championship when we were so poor is outstanding.

If we continue how we're going I think we'll end up 45k+ every home game.

If they were to expand I'd prefer what people have mentioned. Single tiered South stand terrace. Id try and do some sort of 2 tiered box setup on the east stand too.
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Don’t forget the retractable roof and radiators the knars
 
YorkMackem said:
Has the local dog population been growing then?

I agree that the standard seating capacity is just about sufficient, but the infrastructure and the match day experience is far from being as good as it could be with further investment.
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Yeah I'd agree it could be modernised but some just seem obsessed with increasing the capacity when it's simply just not needed. Talking about symmetry and some sort of dortmund wall like there's a business case for that 😂
Wrenthorpe Mackem said:
But it's not. Its about the corporate facilities, and offering/infrastructure. Not just about extra seats. Far from it.
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For some it very much seems to be about extra seats
 
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JackL said:
The stadium is big enough as it is, that's really all there is to it
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If they were not going to spend multiple millions on adding boxes i would agree with you!but as they are looking like they are going to spend it would be idiotic and counterintuitive not to add some seats just because some fans are frightened of empty seats !I dont understand why some fans are stuck in the past..its all about money and we need to use it efficiently and making the sol an attractive option for concerts and the like is god business sense!
 
JackL said:
Yeah I'd agree it could be modernised but some just seem obsessed with increasing the capacity when it's simply just not needed. Talking about symmetry and some sort of dortmund wall like there's a business case for that 😂

For some it very much seems to be about extra seats
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The only business case for significant stadium investment that i can foresee would be linked to a boost to income and not to simply appease the fans and to improve their experience, but....... if the stadium is seen as state of the art with enough space, facilities, hospitality and VIP areas to attract more international events, corporate boxes, music events etc, only then might the spin off be that matchday fans get a better experience.

We could increase season tickets if the experience was better, but numbers sold are already some of the best in the country. Crikey, when general sale ticket numbers sold are added, we are top 10 in the country and right up there in Europe for attendance, which gives the club little reason to improve things beyond what we already have.

All that we can hope for is that new lucrative opportunities outside of the match day, result in some crumbs of improvement for us as a by product.

We are the victims of our own success. The experience isn't by any means appalling and much better than many club's fans have it, but I'd love it if it could be expanded outwards from the concourse.

As it stands, I do not spend a minute longer than I have to in the stadium, don't use the hospitality and don't enjoy the experience that my young granddaughter has when I take her to the loo.

People on this thread are correct in saying that the club will not invest in something that is only used for a few hours every other week, but that is a cause and effect thing. The area around the SOL is finally regenerating, so it's a stick or twist moment for the club.
 
YorkMackem said:
The only business case for significant stadium investment that i can foresee would be linked to a boost to income and not to simply appease the fans and to improve their experience, but....... if the stadium is seen as state of the art with enough space, facilities, hospitality and VIP areas to attract more international events, corporate boxes, music events etc, only then might the spin off be that matchday fans get a better experience.

We could increase season tickets if the experience was better, but numbers sold are already some of the best in the country. Crikey, when general sale ticket numbers sold are added, we are top 10 in the country and right up there in Europe for attendance, which gives the club little reason to improve things beyond what we already have.

All that we can hope for is that new lucrative opportunities outside of the match day, result in some crumbs of improvement for us as a by product.

We are the victims of our own success. The experience isn't by any means appalling and much better than many club's fans have it, but I'd love it if it could be expanded outwards from the concourse.

As it stands, I do not spend a minute longer than I have to in the stadium, don't use the hospitality and don't enjoy the experience that my young granddaughter has when I take her to the loo.

People on this thread are correct in saying that the club will not invest in something that is only used for a few hours every other week, but that is a cause and effect thing. The area around the SOL is finally regenerating, so it's a stick or twist moment for the club.
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Fair points mate
 
Cuddles said:
Personally, I'd like to see money sunk into improvement on the concourse rather than any big expansion.

Think it's inevitable considering hospitality was sold out last year that they want to increase capacity there.

What I would say is I think our support has actually improved since we were last in the Premier League. To average over 40k last season in the championship when we were so poor is outstanding.

If we continue how we're going I think we'll end up 45k+ every home game.

If they were to expand I'd prefer what people have mentioned. Single tiered South stand terrace. Id try and do some sort of 2 tiered box setup on the east stand too.
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No chance of that happening. Makes no sense unless another stand is added.
 
Northumberland Rocks said:
Our owners can make more money with a bigger stadium it’s that simple.
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Yeah, but given the massive shift that the obscene amount that TV/Sky pays out compared to matchday revenue has literally been a game changer.

Increased capacity brings a lot of costs on top of the actual building work i.e. stewarding, insurance, hospitality, policing, insurance.

So if it's barely worth it, why would they do it?
 
oddbod said:
If they were not going to spend multiple millions on adding boxes i would agree with you!but as they are looking like they are going to spend it would be idiotic and counterintuitive not to add some seats just because some fans are frightened of empty seats !I dont understand why some fans are stuck in the past..its all about money and we need to use it efficiently and making the sol an attractive option for concerts and the like is god business sense!
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Exactly this. Stadiums need to be much more than just about football. They are a huge investment and that investment needs to be used much more frequently than 23 times per season.
With the regeneration of the area, the club need to maximise the potential of the centre piece of that area.
Do they need to expand it for football? Not at the moment.
Do they need to expand it and add other aspects to it for other events? Possibly yes.
It all depends on the vision the owners have for this asset. What other revenue streams they have planned.
 
It’d be interesting to see how the cost per head spent on our home games compares with similar sized clubs, most people arrive at kickoff and leave at the final whistle or before,
 
cook said:
49k is big enough. Besides, where do we think the money would come from? It wwould cost more to expand than Bob Murray even spent building the place.
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49k but seems capacity is restricted to around 45k these days. As others have said increasing capacity is relatively easy at the SoL so can be done when success happens.
 
We don't need extra sests. I don't think we wouldn't more than we have spare, if we were in the top flight. However, saying as we sold out our boxes in this league, I suspect we need considerably more, should we get promoted. The prime site for these would be the East Stand, therefore, if it was going to be be largely altered, the continuation of another tier would seem logical.
 
darius said:
We don't need extra sests. I don't think we wouldn't more than we have spare, if we were in the top flight. However, saying as we sold out our boxes in this league, I suspect we need considerably more, should we get promoted. The prime site for these would be the East Stand, therefore, if it was going to be be largely altered, the continuation of another tier would seem logical.
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Bone China flasks and Scottish tweed blankets
 
Archibald Von D said:
It’d be interesting to see how the cost per head spent on our home games compares with similar sized clubs, most people arrive at kickoff and leave at the final whistle or before,
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This is an issue and if more were encouraged to stick around for a drink\ meal it might reduce traffic congestion too. This plus Sheepfolds have to be positive developments and shouldn't detract too much from business at traditional watering holes in the city.
 
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