Arsenal are reportedly ‘exploring’ an expansion of the Emirates Stadium to ‘catch up’ with the matchday revenue of their Premier League rivals.
The Gunners moved into the Emirates from Highbury in 2006, leaping from a 38,000-capacity stadium to one with around 60,000 fans.
It was the biggest stadium in London until West Ham moved into the Olympic Stadium. It has also been surpassed by Tottenham, who built a 62,850-capacity arena.
Arsenal plan Emirates expansion to ‘catch up’ with Spurs, Liverpool
According to the The Times, Arsenal are now ‘exploring how they could upgrade and expand the Emirates Stadium’.
Mikel Arteta’s side want to ‘compete’ with their rivals matchday revenue numbers, namely rivals Tottenham, who earn close to £6million per match, a sixth of which comes from food and drink.
The new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has ‘surpassed’ the Emirates in terms of ‘its size, catering and corporate facilities’ and Arsenal recognise ‘without a renovation, they cannot significantly increase their match-day income’.
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In 2022/23, Arsenal earned £102.6million from matches and are projected to earn over £120million in the next accounts after reaching the Champions League quarter-final.
The report adds that the Gunners consistently fill their stadium in the Premier League, but expanding the capacity will not be easy.
Arsenal’s matches regularly sell out and they realise that they need to keep pace with the huge demand for tickets, as well as adapt to supporters’ changing catering and corporate needs, for example by improving internet access.
Arsenal’s owner, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, has experience of constructing stadiums, having built the state-of-the-art SoFi Stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams NFL franchises. The ground has a capacity of 70,240 and was first used in 2020.
It is not clear how Arsenal could increase the capacity beyond 60,704 in a cost-effective way, having added 780 seats in 2018. Experts have suggested that they could consider changing the gently sloping elliptical roof, which was shaped to help airflow and sunlight reach the grass, but have also pointed out that lowering the pitch will almost certainly not be possible, not least because it would affect sightlines.
Arsenal have 146 executive boxes, which is twice as many as Tottenham, who recognised that corporate fans increasingly prefer using hospitality lounges.
In the shorter term, Arsenal have appointed Populous, the firm that designed the Emirates Stadium, to improve the catering potential.
Manchester United have explored renovating Old Trafford or moving to a new 100,000-seat stadium, while West Ham are also looking to expand the London Stadium from 60k to 68k.
Liverpool, meanwhile, recently expanded Anfield to 61,276 and Spurs are able to earn more than £105million a year due to hosting NFL and rugby union matches, on top of music concerts.
The report mentions Arsenal want Populous to ‘improve their catering potential’. Chris Maddison, the head of food and beverage at Populous said last week: “The demand for food and drink has grown so much more.
“We are doing a redesign of the main production kitchen to triple it in size. That space is necessary to deliver the extra revenue that is being demanded, but it comes down to space. That links itself to cost.”