Arsenal's Emirates Stadium expansion gets big boost as £500m battle with Chelsea may be key
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Nearly everywhere you look in the Premier League, clubs are in the process of rebuilding their stadiums or are plotting to do so, and Arsenal and Chelsea’s masterplans will be bigger than most.
Premier League clubs sold almost 15 million tickets in 2023-24, making it one of the best attended sports leagues on the planet and comfortably the most watched in Europe.
In terms of matchday income, Arsenal and Chelsea are right up there. They earned £102.6m and £76.5m respectively in 2022-23, the last financial year on record.
Stamford Bridge has a more modest capacity than the Emirates Stadium but it does boast the highest financial return per fan, per match in the English top flight.
Arsenal are looking to redress that balance, with co-chair Josh Kroenke revealing Arsenal are looking at options to expand their stadium earlier this year.
It has since emerged that the Gunners will likely spend over £500m on the Emirates project, which could see capacity hiked to around 80,000, a 20,00 increase on the number it currently accommodates.
Moving from North to West London, Chelsea’s plans to either expand or rebuild Stamford Bridge are up in the air.
Todd Boehly, the public face of the club since the takeover from Roman Abramovich in May 2022 despite his equity stake of just 13 per cent, favours a move to a new site altogether.
Clearlake Capital and their head honcho Behdad Eghbali meanwhile wants to boost capacity at Stamford Bridge to 60,000 or more. Significantly, they have spend about £80m on land to make this possible.
The differing visions of the two co-owners are just one source of the tensions that have gripped the Chelsea boardroom despite their excellent season under Enzo Maresca so far.
Whatever the outcome of that private equity psychodrama, both Chelsea and Arsenal can expect much, much bigger matchday income in the long term.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 2 |  ChelseaChelsea | 16 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 37 | 19 | 18 | 34 |
| 3 |  ArsenalArsenal | 16 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 29 | 15 | 14 | 30 |
Given that Tottenham are raising the stakes every season, Liverpool have significantly upgraded their facilities, and Man United could soon build the world’s best stadium, that is just as well.
Increasingly, even the Big Six have to run to stand still in terms of matchday income.
But with Arsenal and Chelsea in particular, one specific issue could complicate matters. And it looks like Arsenal have the advantage.
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Arsenal and Chelsea set to fight for interim residency at Wembley Stadium?
When it comes to the logistics of massive capital expenditure stadium projects, clubs have a couple of options.
They can choose to take the Liverpool route and stagger the redevelopment of their stadium over a number of years without a major impact on attendances throughout that period.
Or, they can move away from their home ground entirely and complete the construction work in a shorter amount of time.
When Tottenham took that route, they moved to Wembley Stadium for the interim period, and it has been reliably reported that this an option that both Chelsea and Arsenal are exploring.
If the two projects clash, however, the logistics would make stadium share difficult. That is what the mood music is in the world of football finance is, in any case.
But Arsenal may have the jump on Chelsea in this department.
Per the Evening Standard, former Arsenal CEO Vinai Venkatesham has been named as the head of a new advisory board overseeing the future development of the national team stadium on behalf of the FA.
Venkatesham only formerly left his position with the Gunners in August this year.
In theory, his influence could be key in any future decisions about who might take temporary residency at the 90,000-seater stadium.
Venkatesham’s successor at the Emirates is Richard Garlick, who has assumed his responsibilities but has been given the title of managing director.
How much could Chelsea and Arsenal earn at expanded stadiums?
At an 80,000-seater stadium, a pro-rata calculation suggests that Arsenal could bank £139m in matchday income on annual basis.
Chelsea, who want a capacity of at least 60,000 regardless of whether they stay at Stamford Bridge or move elsewhere, would earn about £115m.
In reality, however, both clubs would likely see their total matchday incomes rise significantly higher because of the commercial orientation of stadium redevelopments in the modern era.
Stan Kroenke, who privately financed the SoFi Stadium for his NFL franchise the LA Rams, is an expert in commercialisation. A focus on hospitality and catering would see Arsenal’s total hit £150m quite easily.
Chelsea’s matchday income meanwhile might be slightly more modest because of their smaller capacity, but their enhanced money-per-fan metric means they wouldn’t be too far behind.
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