The stadium Arsenal could pay millions to use while the Emirates gets expanded to 80,000
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Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium is one of the most lucrative in the Premier League, but the Stan Kroenke regime is exploring ways to squeeze more cash out of the biggest asset.
The Gunners earned more than £100m in matchday income in the last recorded financial year, which was behind only Man United and Tottenham among Premier League stadiums.
But with Liverpool having now finalised the redevelopment of Anfeld, Chelsea looking at either expanding Stamford Bridge or building a brand new stadium, Arsenal cannot afford to rest on their laurels.
In the summer Josh Kroenke, who is co-chair of the North Londoners alongside his father Stan, revealed that they were conducting research into the possibility of expanding the Emirates.
Since then, it has emerged that Arsenal want to boost capacity to 80,000 in a move that would likely cost north of £500m and be their most ambitious infrastructure development since the move from Higbury.
However, there are all manner of hurdles that they would need to clear before they can break ground on the new project.
For one, they would need to get permission from the Islington council.
Given that they very reason they moved to the Emirates Stadium from Higbury was that the council wouldn’t give them the green light to expand their old ground, that would be no mean feat.
They would also need to sort out the financing situation, although Stan Kroenke’s decision to personally finance the construction of the SoFi Stadium, home of his LA Rams franchise, is telling.
What’s more, Arsenal would need somewhere to play their home grounds in the meantime, unless they opted for a staggered expansion like Liverpool so as not to interrupt matchday income too much.
Arsenal could rent Wembley Stadium, says finance expert
One option that has been posited is that Arsenal could play their home matches at Wembley Stadium in the interim period.
This is the solution that Tottenham opted for when they were not able to play at White Hart Lane.
Speaking exclusively to TBR Football, Liverpool University football finance lecturer Kieran Maguire explained how the rental agreement at the England national team’s home might work.
“They will sign up as tenants at Wembley if they do choose to go down this route, just as Tottenham did a few years back,” he said.
“They will then be responsible for the sale of tickets. They will get 90-95 per cent in terms of their cut of the gate receipts, so I think it would make sense.
“It is no dissimilar to when Taylor Swift plays at Anfield. The artist, or in this case the football team, pays a hosting fee and is then responsible for selling tickets.
“Effectively, they would be renting in exactly the same way that West Ham are renting at the London Stadium.
“That way, you can retain as much matchday income as possible while the Emirates Stadium is out of use.”
- READ MORE: The 10 Arsenal matches which Bukayo Saka will miss after hamstring injury length revealed
Arsenal get Wembley Stadium boost as former CEO takes FA role
There is one issue about a potential temporary move to Wembley.
Chelsea are also looking to develop or rebuild their stadium, so there could be two London clubs competing for occupancy at the national team stadium.
Luckily for Arsenal, they may now have an advantage over their peers in West London.
Vinai Venkatesham was succeeded by Richard Garlick as Arsenal’s CEO in the summer after 14 years at the club.
Now, Venkatesham has taken a role as chair of the Wembley Stadium Advisory Board.
If they needed an advocate on the inside, Arsenal can likely rely on their former chief executive to argue their case to the FA.
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