You do it by having cheap ticketsI disagree. There's a balance between meeting the demands of casual fans and having huge half empty soulless stadia. I dont think you strike that balance by having a stadium big enough to take in the number of fans that wanted to watch, for example, City v QPR. At the moment most of our PL games just about sell out which for me suggests that the current capacity is about right.
They spent millions to provide cheaper seats with the south stand and at some point will for the North. They obviously aren't in it just for profit otherwise we would be run like Arsenal and wouldnt be making a £1 mill profit on a £400 mill turnover, there are many more profitable ways to invest their money.It seems obvious the plan was to expand the North Stand by the half-arsed unfinished state after the South expansion. No improvement to the parking/exits and the state of the East wasteland, sorry, car park outside for instance.
Inside, the tannoy has been shite since the work started on the South and barely scrapes through safety regs every year. The whole roof is a mess. The TVs in two corners of the same end of the stadium. I could go on but it wouldn't be right the week we lift the Prem, but you get my point.
So IMO there were plans, maybe still are plans, but they were supposed to have been put into action by now - so why haven't they been?
Judging by changes off the pitch for us "customers", I'd say they don't see a profit in it.
I'm certainly not naive enough to think anyone's going to spend millions on expansion just to provide cheaper seats unless it looks good on the balance sheet. They certainly won't do it to improve the atmosphere.
Not true at all. The club is worth over £2bn - a £700M profit.They spent millions to provide cheaper seats with the south stand and at some point will for the North. They obviously aren't in it just for profit otherwise we would be run like Arsenal and wouldnt be making a £1 mill profit on a £400 mill turnover, there are many more profitable ways to invest their money.
West Ham are getting huge crowds, but four or five empty seats stands out a mile. Built for comfort and athletics with a bit of space. Same with us. However, at Anfield the seats - other than the expansion are more compact so you hardly notice four or five empty ones, especially when everyone is standing. Our attendance to capacity ratio is pretty good. We need to sort out the corporate situation - these folks either don’t turn up or watch the game inside. Just my opinions.Gate receipts are negligible. If our stadium ends up with even more empty seats and those that are occupied are filled with kids on IPads then we are in danger of creating stadia seen in Italy after their football went bust!
In short, exclusivity will maintain better TV income whilst over expansion will make us the coldest ticket in town.
It seems obvious the plan was to expand the North Stand by the half-arsed unfinished state after the South expansion. No improvement to the parking/exits and the state of the East wasteland, sorry, car park outside for instance.
Inside, the tannoy has been shite since the work started on the South and barely scrapes through safety regs every year. The whole roof is a mess. The TVs in two corners of the same end of the stadium. I could go on but it wouldn't be right the week we lift the Prem, but you get my point.
So IMO there were plans, maybe still are plans, but they were supposed to have been put into action by now - so why haven't they been?
Judging by changes off the pitch for us "customers", I'd say they don't see a profit in it.
I'm certainly not naive enough to think anyone's going to spend millions on expansion just to provide cheaper seats unless it looks good on the balance sheet. They certainly won't do it to improve the atmosphere.
When ADUG acquired City there was considerable talk of the stadium being upgraded at least partly because the owners wanted to have "one of the best stadia in the world". The stadium was supposedly seen as the visible sign of the the investment being made by the Sheikh. That hasn't really happened. We've had the expanded South stand and the Tunnel Club, but really I was expecting much more.
I think its because of the fixation over the capacity. It seems as if the aspirations have been put on hold, we seem to be waiting for the attendances to catch up with the owners hopes before further development (apart from the Tunnel Club) is carried out. I can understand why they don't want to expand the stadium if they can't fill it. Empty seats are always going to be used as a stick to beat City, unlike Barca or RM. And personally I much prefer to sit in a full, or nearly full, vibrant stadium than one with thousands of empty seats. I think it would be better for the club to focus on making the most of the stadium at its current capacity (more or less) rather than hoping that one day we'll match Old Trafford for attendances.
Some real shite being spoken. The south stand cost 90 million pound!
The stadium looks well and in time will look even better.