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Sustainability / Commercial ideas


chunksafc said:
Maybe they will announce.it at the same time as a push for 2028 games?

Seems like there is a little support for more food and drink opportunities, bit without changes to the concourse or building something there isn't room to do anything
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Maybe they are hoping that if they get games, they will get external funding?

There’s no doubt though that the club is now falling behind others. Parts of the SOL probably haven’t been updated since it opened and it’s starting to show.
 
Hank Scorpio said:
Maybe they are hoping that if they get games, they will get external funding?

There’s no doubt though that the club is now falling behind others. Parts of the SOL probably haven’t been updated since it opened and it’s starting to show.
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I noticed the liner panels on the roof are starting to flake quite badly in places, that won't be cheap to sort, but to be expected considering the age and exposure.

That will need addressing sooner rather than later
 
Hank Scorpio said:
Maybe they are hoping that if they get games, they will get external funding?

There’s no doubt though that the club is now falling behind others. Parts of the SOL probably haven’t been updated since it opened and it’s starting to show.
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I don’t think any of it has been properly updated aside from the north stand with the extension. They’ve put a couple of welcome to Sunderland signs on the sides of the corrugated iron. Everything else is as it was.

The place used to be the price and joy of the club. Needs to be again.
 
Dunno how many tickets are usually sold, but instead of just selling tickets for the half time lottery....give people a ticket for every pint or say £5 spent at the kiosk, might tempt more to get into the ground earlier for another pint.
 
I think better facilities would attract folk earlier, even a ledge to put your food and drink on would be nice or some room so you aren’t constantly dodging folk trying to get past
 
Ability to get served in a reasonable amount of time
Better offering of food and drink at more reasonable price points
Better facilities on the concourses ie bigger and more screens to watch early kick offs, more space, somewhere you can actually put your pint down
 
chunksafc said:
Following on from what's been an interesting discussion on the Spurs thread. I thought it would be an idea to have a thread with suggestions and discussions on ways to improve the finances of the club.

Extended concourses with better food and drink options to encourage more fans to make a day of it at the game

Any other ideas?
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The big problem is that the club can't compete price-wise with the pubs on the North side of the river (and a substantial number south of the river). A lot of our fans are price-sensitive, rather than quality-sensitive. Spurs can do it because they are competitive with the local pubs. There would be some impact with an improved offer, but 75-80% of the gate will still arrive after 2.30 for a 3pm kickoff/
 
Even offering decent drinks in the ground would be a good start
I’ve stopped drinking in the stadium, the carling is rotten, and the wine is worse than vinegar
 
Grumpy Old Man said:
The big problem is that the club can't compete price-wise with the pubs on the North side of the river (and a substantial number south of the river). A lot of our fans are price-sensitive, rather than quality-sensitive. Spurs can do it because they are competitive with the local pubs. There would be some impact with an improved offer, but 75-80% of the gate will still arrive after 2.30 for a 3pm kickoff/
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I think that is doing a lot of the fanbase a disservice. Some of the busiest pubs pre match are pubs on the south side serving a variety of beers that cost in the region of a fiver a pint. Dun Cow, Peacock, Engine Room, Streetbar are all dear. Supporters will pay the money for decent beer in decent surroundings. They’re not going to want to pay £5 for a can of Guinness poured from three feet above into a plastic cup by a teenager who wants to get it in the cup as sharp as possible. They’re also not wanting to stand on a concrete concourse with shite surroundings.

That type of generalising of our fanbase is what Methven used to do
 
chunksafc said:
Jesus, I dont know if the cost of doing it would give the returns required, but if looked at properly it could provide much needed funds
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Rate of return on building works will be very low. External finance would be prohibitively expensive, because football clubs (irrespective of owners) have appalling credit ratings, meaning junl bond interest rates. The payback on extensing the concourses would likely be 10-15 years, with additional income low in relation to cost. It's more of a customer experience point than profit generating.
 
Grumpy Old Man said:
Rate of return on building works will be very low. External finance would be prohibitively expensive, because football clubs (irrespective of owners) have appalling credit ratings, meaning junl bond interest rates. The payback on extensing the concourses would likely be 10-15 years, with additional income low in relation to cost. It's more of a customer experience point than profit generating.
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Well you have certainly sucked the fun out of that idea.

We can't compete with pubs for prices and it wouldnt make profit.

Apart from that it's a good idea
 
Also in Tottenham thread they 'made' £800k, the whole season from food and drink whether that's revenue or income who knows. There's no money there to be made, it's pennies in grand scheme of things including corporate which is an area which we will never compete on because of where we are. Not to mention the fact Tottenham has a bunch of plastic fans around the country who make it a day out. The vast majority of our support is local.

Sea to Shining Sea said:
I think that is doing a lot of the fanbase a disservice. Some of the busiest pubs pre match are pubs on the south side serving a variety of beers that cost in the region of a fiver a pint. Dun Cow, Peacock, Engine Room, Streetbar are all dear. Supporters will pay the money for decent beer in decent surroundings. They’re not going to want to pay £5 for a can of Guinness poured from three feet above into a plastic cup by a teenager who wants to get it in the cup as sharp as possible. They’re also not wanting to stand on a concrete concourse with shite surroundings.

That type of generalising of our fanbase is what Methven used to do
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It's a stadium, it will never compete with any of those bars regardless to what they do. It's not comparable in terms of surroundings and you can't exactly have stuff on tap for 10 people every 2 weeks where most people don't want it and want Guinness or Carling.

I really couldn't give a toss about the concourse personally, I go to watch the football, not to get pissed and could imagine the vast majority of our fans would agree. It's certainly not something that will make people not go to the game.
 
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Sea to Shining Sea said:
I think that is doing a lot of the fanbase a disservice. Some of the busiest pubs pre match are pubs on the south side serving a variety of beers that cost in the region of a fiver a pint. Dun Cow, Peacock, Engine Room, Streetbar are all dear. Supporters will pay the money for decent beer in decent surroundings. They’re not going to want to pay £5 for a can of Guinness poured from three feet above into a plastic cup by a teenager who wants to get it in the cup as sharp as possible. They’re also not wanting to stand on a concrete concourse with shite surroundings.

That type of generalising of our fanbase is what Methven used to do
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I said a lot, not all. I know a lot who aren't price-sensitive, and a lot who are. I'm in the former category, but improving the concourse offer won't make me likely to use it. At the end of the day, it's still a concrete corridor with zero comfort and seating.
 
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