SOL expansion

[tynevalleyblackcat]

You should listen to the Tom Burwell interview he definitely wants to increase the capacity mainly for the extra profit corperate gives

He was also very proud of the fact that the club keeps in touch with its legends like 'Reidy, Quinn, Phillips, Defoe and Michael Ball'..............

 

[FalkirkMackem]

Are we allowed to say the W as an M looked crap then and looks crap now?

Source of ridicule locked and loaded

 

[tynevalleyblackcat]

He says we have designs that take the capacity up to 59,000 and then goes on to say they'd be wanting around 3,000 of the extra 10k to be hospitality. Can only assume those designs refer to an east stand extension rather than south.

A desire to get to 59,000 isn't a 'design'. A proper design would not even start until the club pressed the button and would take at least a year to finalise, sort planning etc and get to tender, probably longer.

 

[DiscopantsSoL]

Is that all glass between the brickwork sections? I wonder if there’s brickwork behind the white metal cladding or if it’s just that and then the steel that makes up the structure? I think even plain exposed brickwork where those sections are would look better than the cladding, as the big Black Cat sections look good and it would be in-keeping with the exterior of the NWC and West Stand

There is no brickwork, i used to sit in North West Upper, its steel work, and metal cladding and blockwork below the windows.

 

[Sgt Pepper]

There is no brickwork, i used to sit in North West Upper, its steel work, and metal cladding and blockwork below the windows.

Such a shame. I’ve just been on Google Maps street view going round from the West/Monty Stand, NWC and then onto Vaux Brewery Way and the North Stand exterior looks nowhere near as good as the former two. I’m just grateful they did the North West Corner the same as the West Stand rather than the same as the North, the brickwork and windows going round all that way looks great. After the NWC got built did we suddenly reign in the spend or something?

 

[tynevalleyblackcat]

The demand is never going to be sustainable. It's football, we'll have good patches and bad, all teams do. If you're waiting for absolute certainty that we'll be top of the premier and will stay there, it's not happening.

However, we'd be stuck at Roker Park if we took that risk adverse approach. Loads of people said we'd never fill a 40k stadium, never mind 48k.

We need to go for it. If we ever get relegated, I'm happy with some empty seats, if that means we can have 65K screaming at a 6-0 victory over the mags.

I agree. We had to shut the Premier concourse during the league One years and you could say we should never have built it, but where would we be without it now?

Having areas empty or not totally full isn't an issue once paid for. Its an assett sitting there waiting for the bigger games and the better times.

 

[42]

Also it needs to be thought of as a multi use venue. I personally don’t care if we don’t sell out every single game. Does the o2 arena sell out every single ticket for all of their events? Of course not

Increasing the capacity along with corporate offerings makes the stadium more attractive for the biggest concerts, increasing revenue. Like her or not but the SoL was within a whisker of getting Taylor Swift and I’m pretty sure we would have if there were a few more cheap and expensive seats on offer. That would’ve been incredible for the club and the city’s economy

I’ve said before but I’d rather be getting crowds of 53k in a 56k stadium than 46k in a 46k stadium and don’t give a toss if some weirdo mags make fun

At the same time there needs to be a return on investment. And given how expensive construction costs currently are, a few one off events here & there isn't going to give you that. They need to be confident that they can pretty much sell out the corporate seats, but with recent ticketing issues theyve shot themselves in the foot with that one somewhat.

 

[Julio Mackemo]

Always irritated me why the north stand extension didn’t match the number of rows, makes no sense given there is space to have it same size

Me too, it looks crap imho

Also it needs to be thought of as a multi use venue. I personally don’t care if we don’t sell out every single game. Does the o2 arena sell out every single ticket for all of their events? Of course not

Increasing the capacity along with corporate offerings makes the stadium more attractive for the biggest concerts, increasing revenue. Like her or not but the SoL was within a whisker of getting Taylor Swift and I’m pretty sure we would have if there were a few more cheap and expensive seats on offer. That would’ve been incredible for the club and the city’s economy

I’ve said before but I’d rather be getting crowds of 53k in a 56k stadium than 46k in a 46k stadium and don’t give a toss if some weirdo mags make fun

Is the correct answer

I agree. We had to shut the Premier concourse during the league One years and you could say we should never have built it, but where would we be without it now?

Having areas empty or not totally full isn't an issue once paid for. Its an assett sitting there waiting for the bigger games and the better times.

The logic that we may get half full stadiums when we go down to the championship or league one again is absolute madness, on here.

 

[DiscopantsSoL]

Just seen the Executive Boxes are being refurbished ahead of next season

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At the same time there needs to be a return on investment. And given how expensive construction costs currently are, a few one off events here & there isn't going to give you that. They need to be confident that they can pretty much sell out the corporate seats, but with recent ticketing issues theyve shot themselves in the foot with that one somewhat.

Anyone know what this seasons premium seasonal packages cost?

Such a shame. I’ve just been on Google Maps street view going round from the West/Monty Stand, NWC and then onto Vaux Brewery Way and the North Stand exterior looks nowhere near as good as the former two. I’m just grateful they did the North West Corner the same as the West Stand rather than the same as the North, the brickwork and windows going round all that way looks great. After the NWC got built did we suddenly reign in the spend or something?

They actually built it from the North Stand round to the South West Corner, The back of the North Stand was complete before the South West Corner was fit out and the external brick constructed.

 

[Daisy dog]

I think between 200 and 500 people would be effected so there would need to be a plan in place to put them somewhere.. then where do they go once its complete because their seats would not exist anymore.

I'm one of those who will be effected so hope its not a shit show.

Deck chairs on the running track.

 

[Mnemonic]

From a business perspective it's not. There's arguments for corporate, there's zero arguments for normal seats.

You can increase prices more if there's a queue waiting to take your seat since FOMO kicks in. If there's no queue, people can just pack it in anytime and pick and choose when to turn up.

If there is demand for 60k we’re missing out on 12000 tickets sales every game or about 7m a year in income.

Is that all glass between the brickwork sections? I wonder if there’s brickwork behind the white metal cladding or if it’s just that and then the steel that makes up the structure? I think even plain exposed brickwork where those sections are would look better than the cladding, as the big Black Cat sections look good and it would be in-keeping with the exterior of the NWC and West Stand.


Correct, for the first time since 2002. Let’s see how it goes before we get ahead of ourselves.

I would as well because that many empty seats is nowt really. But in our last PL stint our highest averages were 43k, so around 5k short of capacity. If say we ended up dropping to that again if we had a couple of average seasons up here, what would be the point in extending to 56k and having 13k empty seats? Don’t care what anyone says, it is shit for atmosphere and looks shit when you’re in the ground as a supporter. Obviously the firestick lot wouldn’t care.

Why wait? Reeks of a lack of ambition

 

[The Onion Bag]

Club will decide whether we should extend or not.

End of thread.

P.s. it won't take over a year for planning permission.

 

[Sgt Pepper]

If there is demand for 60k we’re missing out on 12000 tickets sales every game or about 7m a year in income.

Why wait? Reeks of a lack of ambition

Because the demand at this stage isn’t sustained and this waiting list has seemed a bit of a mess and a sham since the beginning reading the thread about it, with mixed numbers rumoured and given. For what it’s worth I’m in the camp of not believing there’s 15,000 (which would take ‘demand’ to 60k+) on it at all. The club are proving quite conclusively they can’t be trusted when it comes to all things ticketing. So why wait you ask, because I’ll say it again: we’ve sold the current capacity out over a full season 3 times in 25 years.

First season back in the big time for so many years away, overachieved - this always creates a fear of ‘fomo’ amongst some. If the level of demand sustains especially if we have a couple of average consolidating type seasons then fair enough I think it would be great.

 

[rubberface]

Because the demand at this stage isn’t sustained and this waiting list has seemed a bit of a mess and a sham since the beginning reading the thread about it, with mixed numbers rumoured and given. For what it’s worth I’m in the camp of not believing there’s 15,000 (which would take ‘demand’ to 60k+) on it at all. The club are proving quite conclusively they can’t be trusted when it comes to all things ticketing. So why wait you ask, because I’ll say it again: we’ve sold the current capacity out over a full season 3 times in 25 years.

First season back in the big time for so many years away, overachieved - this always creates a fear of ‘fomo’ amongst some. If the level of demand sustains especially if we have a couple of average consolidating type seasons then fair enough I think it would be great.

Not a cat in hells chance there is 15,000 on the waiting list like mate

 

[Skylon]

Can someone help me out here. Was that sign displayed for a period on big poles near the seafront? Im absolutely convinced it was but cannot find any evidence.

I think so.it was also on wearmouth bridgefor a while i think

 

[Kermit]

I think so.it was also on wearmouth bridgefor a while i think

Yes actually that rings a bell as well now you've said. I think that mightve been on the front of a match day program. Thank you

Edit. But again cannot find any images of it on the bridge either

 

[Sea to Shining Sea]

Club will decide whether we should extend or not.

End of thread.

P.s. it won't take over a year for planning permission.

It’s not the end of the thread. And you just created the parameters for it to be continued further by mentioning planing permission

 

[Sassanach]

When you listen to the interview it seems pretty clear that a big focus of the club is maximising revenues and 3k of the 10k extension would be corporate to help with doing that. Seems like they would also want even the 'standard' fan experience to be a lot better than what you get in some parts of the ground just now. The idea being it is a win for the fans who have a better time at a match and a win for the club who will make a bit more money from the same fan going to game in the enhanced stadium compared to the current one.

Reading between the lines it seemed like the club were seriously considering it. The interim CEO more or less said it would be a no brainer if money was no object.

The key thing will be if they feel they have the cash for it without detracting from the playing squad. I suspect this scale of investment without impacting the squad may require a loan. I don't think that would put the club off doing it though as you could hear very early in the interview that the effect of EPL status and the insurance of parachute payments plus saleable assets means we are a lot more open to considering this type of move.

The club really aren't worried about empty seats.

 

[AndrewP]

I think it would be utterly mental to not build it and the sooner the better. Forest were averaging 20k less than 10 years ago, are by no means secure in their PL position and are currently set to expand and have a bigger capacity than us.

They're only planning on 45k.

 

[Lo Ursem]

Always irritated me why the north stand extension didn’t match the number of rows, makes no sense given there is space to have it same size.

If it was the same number, the six or seven back rows would not afford a good view of the far end of the stadium. The roof of the stadium, angled downwards as it is, doesn't restrict the view from the very back of the Premier Concourse looking across east but the extra distance from the North Stand to the south doesn't allow the same height of seating.