The club have got to look at the bigger picture. The extra tier will add no capacity for gigs and will likely mean we can't stage gigs for at least one Summer. Therefore it will be useful only for Football. As we are now, we wouldn't fill it. It's got to make money and be beneficial
So you sacrifice one year of concerts. 5 concerts?
We would fill the Etihad if 'our fanbase pricing was right'.
SS level 3 is full for most games. And the away seats in SS level 3 often get filled when the away team don't take their full away allocation.
Expanding the North stand is another statement of intent. It's another step in the journey of the club.
Expanding the Etihad then makes it a Europa League final stadium. Or even a CL final stadium.
Then you build the Etihad Campus and Collar Site entertainment centre around it.
I swear down! Jesus, Lord, hear my prayer!
You won't find a better stadium and surrounding area in European football. Maybe even in World Football?
But until Khaldoon, Soriano, Danny Wilson, and the board accept we don't have the fanbase to pay £55-£60 matchday tickets to fill the Etihad on a regular basis, then there is no point in expanding Etihad. Expand the Etihad, price matchday tickets between £25-£35, or on a par with season ticket match prices, and we will fill an expanded Etihad.
The choice is this.
Keep the Etihad as it is and continue charging current matchday ticket prices.
Expand the Etihad and make matchday ticket prices cheaper, and on a par with season ticket matchday prices.
There is no PL or club rule that states matchday ticket prices have to be more expensive than season ticket matchday prices.
Unfortunately nobody on BM knows how the board, and those directly in charge of ticket prices, make those decisions.
If it's like for like, and comparable with the other big PL clubs, we have now reached that parity after 10 years of being own by Sheikh Mansour.