Marvin said:
FanchesterCity said:
If you were going to make a real statement with a stadium, it would be hard to do with just the stadium alone (in my opinion). Nice lighting, dramatic shapes... it's been done...
Maybe you'd have to be very off the wall and the stadium was something else too... a giant seaworld or some crazy hotel like the Burj Al Arab (Dubai)... obviously that's not feasible, but it would need to be quite spectacular to truly be the envy of the world.
Of course, if you just fancy cramming in 60K - then that's a purely functional issue, and can be done (for a cost)... it's just finding the right cost that's will feasibly give a return.
Personally I like the look of our stadium, but look 'grubby' in terms of exterior concrete finish. It could look much more spectacular with (maybe) more glass, or even wood / steel.
There is a need for more seats. An architectural statement is secondary
Tricky one that... it's not entirely clear (to me) how many more seats we could sell... it'll all exciting to imagine 60K (or more) but could we actually fill it?. I know lots will scream 'yes!' - but many talk out of their arse and don't actually think things through.
Plus, if we were to extend, 'getting it right' is another challenge.... you don't want to spend a fortune doing the work, only to need to extend again shortly after, or make that architectural statement later... you MIGHT choose to do both at the same time...
Right now, we seem to be selling out at 47K for prem games, but we didn't always sell out for CL (from memory) and certainly not for most cup games, including a league cup semi....
When you weigh up the benefits of extending you have to look at capacity across ALL games, and, it's important to keep as close to capacity as you can to keep prices higher and promote the perception of high demand.
From 47K to 55K might be within our reach.... 60K is quite a jump. I personally suspect we might need a couple more years of success before we can be comfortable holding our own with 60K.
I
know fans that are already starting to be careful about which games they attend (primarily for financial reasons) and some of the previously 'glamorous' games are now not quite as high on the agenda... i.e. League Cup Semi, Charity Shield etc). It seems a pretty tight line City have to tread. Of course, I could be way wrong on that, and they can just hike the prices up as they see fit, and if some fans won't pay... a new, wealthier plastic fan will...
Just my opinion of course.
