The City Ground, Nottingham Forest’s home, is located near the River Trent, and it appears that the team will remain there.
Forest fans have been apprehensive. There has been significant talk of the Reds moving away from their current home, with new locations being considered.
However, there appears to have been a breakthrough in the previous month, and a City Ground stay is now looking likely.
But what does this mean financially? We admit we don’t know the full cost of residing on the banks of the River Trent, but a football finance specialist has exclusively given us the dirt.
Expert explains major benefit of Nottingham Forest remaining at the City Ground.
Following this genuinely wonderful news regarding the City Ground, we absolutely had to find out all of the details about the benefits of staying at the stadium that serves as home.
With the dust settling on whether Nottingham Forest will continue to play at the City Ground, we chatted with TBR Football’s finance expert, Adam Williams, who had some good comments.
He said: “With Forest acquiring the site on which the City Ground lies earlier this month, it appears like the team will stay put.
“I’m not particularly familiar with fans’ sentiments, but I’m guessing they’d embrace this given their affection and emotional connection to the ground.
“At West Ham, we saw how relocating to a new stadium can trigger an existential crisis, so Forest fans will be relieved to have escaped that.
“It is not a foregone conclusion that this agreement will lead to the expansion of the City Ground, but that does seem increasingly likely.”
So, what does this mean for matchday incoming, with Forest eager to establish themselves as a Premier League team capable of competing for Europe and trophies?
Williams went on to say, “Moving from a 29,000 to a 40,000-seater stadium would increase matchday and commercial revenue.
“They generated £11.1 million through the turnstiles in 2022-23, the most recent financial year for which data is available.
“A rough figure based on revenue per fan indicates that matchday income would rise to £15.3 million.
“In actuality, the sharp increase in ticket prices over the last two seasons would likely push the sum closer to £20 million.
“Then you have to consider that an enlargement of the City Ground would necessitate the rebuilding of hospitality facilities and so on.
“By the time you’ve done that, I believe you’re talking about £25 million. So you have a situation in which raising capacity by 25% can result in a more than 150% increase in matchday revenue.
“And I believe that is a conservative estimate. For comparison, Elland Road has a capacity of little under 38,000 and produced £30 million in matchday revenue last year.
Once Forest has successfully rebuilt the City Ground into a stadium with additional seats and a fresh coat of paint, the chances of corporate sponsorship will increase.
Williams feels this might have a significant impact on Forest’s annual PSR compliance.
The analyst went on to say, “On top of that, sponsors are more likely to be connected with a sparkling new stadium, so you can squeeze more money out of them.
“A naming rights deal may be unpleasant with fans – and rightly so, in my opinion – but it might also bring in £2-3 million every season if Forest can establish themselves as a Premier League team.
“All of this is to indicate that a rebuilt stadium would significantly improve Forest’s PSR position. It may possibly increase their transfer/wage budget by £20 million per season.
Staying on the City Ground was the only solution.
If Forest had abandoned their home for many years, there would have been a major backlash, and the hierarchy may have failed to recover.
Evangelos Marinakis has done incredible things since joining Forest, yet some fans refuse to accept him.
That sounds harsh given his financial backing, but some followers believe he is continually battling to prove himself as an owner.
He is unconcerned about it because he is primarily a businessman, but he has demonstrated in recent years that he cares deeply for the club.
If he had been the owner and removed Forest from the City Ground, the stadium with the location that many envy, he might have struggled to recover.
It’s intriguing to see how this could benefit Forest, and hopefully work on extending the stadium can begin soon now that things appear to be finally sorted.
