ESSMA Stadium Industry Updates 12 December 2023
Capacity increase for London Stadium and Wrexham, renovation plans for Sevilla, Newcastle and Rijeka and new stadiums for Cagliari and Gloucestershire Cricket. Read all about it in this week's ESSMA stadium industry updates!
Capacity increase for London Stadium planned
West Ham United is reportedly planning on expanding the matchday capacity of London Stadium to 68,000, which would make it the second largest stadium in the Premier League after Manchester United’s Old Trafford.
According to the Daily Mail, West Ham has agreed an “informal plan” with the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), which owns the stadium, to make 5,500 more seats available to fans.
The current matchday capacity of London Stadium is 62,500, which has been the case since the start of the 2022-23 season. London Stadium’s full capacity is around 68,000 but West Ham is unable to open every seat on match days due to safety restrictions.
Wrexham to address capacity issues with temporary stand
League Two football club Wrexham AFC has announced work will commence on a temporary stand at its STōK Cae Ras | STōK Racecourse stadium to boost capacity amid ongoing efforts to deliver a new Kop End.
Wrexham said the temporary stand will have a capacity of 2,289 and accommodation for an additional 20 wheelchairs. It is hoped the stand will be ready in time for the Welsh derby against Newport County on December 23. The stand will be for home fans only.
Applications for the relevant permissions and licences are being made simultaneously with the construction. A club spokesman said: “We are making good progress resolving the outstanding matters before the Kop Development can commence, but with a minimum of three months mobilisation period before work can start on site, we can now install a temporary stand without negatively impacting the construction programme for the Kop.
“The costs of the temporary stand will be greater than generated from ticket sales, but the board felt the priority was to enable more fans to see the team live and address the frustration felt by some that they can’t get a ticket for games.”
Read more at: https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/23965734.wrexham-afc-work-begin-temporary-stand-stok-cae-ras/
Newcastle brings in CAA ICON, launches stadium survey
Newcastle United has engaged CAA ICON to conduct a feasibility study of St. James’ Park, with the strategic management consulting firm commencing its work by administering and running a fan survey gauging opinion on the Premier League football club’s future stadium options.
Newcastle said the survey could help to shape the club’s future stadium facilities, with CAA ICON to undertake the broader feasibility study before making recommendations for the future. The survey asks a number of hypothetical questions which Newcastle states are “not indicative of any specific development aims at this stage”, but are instead designed to ensure “comprehensive feedback” is captured from a range of supporters.
Read more at:https://www.nufc.co.uk/news/latest-news/supporters-asked-for-feedback-as-part-of-stadium-feasibility-study/
Sevilla unveils plans for Nuevo Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán
Spanish LaLiga football club Sevilla has presented plans for a new Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán highlighted by an extensive roof structure and a single tier Gol Norte stand that will house 15,000 fans.
Sevilla unveiled the preliminary project plan, drawn up by Spanish engineering, design and consultancy firm IDOM, at its general shareholders’ meeting yesterday (Monday). The club has long been assessing means to meet rising demand for games at the stadium, its home since 1958.
The Sánchez-Pizjuán has undergone a number of developments in recent years, with capacity currently sitting at 43,833. In July 2019, Sevilla outlined plans to add a third tier, potentially expanding capacity at the stadium to around 60,000.
Read more at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOLHLLVrIVw
Cagliari gets green light from city council for new stadium
The Municipality of Cagliari has voted to approve a €50m investment in a new stadium for Serie A football club Cagliari Calcio.
The vote represents the latest boost for the club’s plans, after the Region of Sardinia last week gave the green light to its own €50m funding package. The Regional Council of Sardinia initially gave the green light for the funding back in February, but this was only formally signed off on November 28.
Read more at: https://www.thestadiumbusiness.com/2023/12/06/cagliari-gets-green-light-from-city-council-for-new-stadium/
Sustainability to the fore at Populous-designed LDLC Arena
Populous has hailed the recently opened LDLC Arena in Lyon as an example of its commitment to delivering “best-in-class” venues with a reduced impact on the environment.
LDLC Arena is France’s largest indoor arena outside of Paris and staged its first major event on November 23. A crowd of 11,354 turned out as new tenant, basketball team LDLC ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, fell to a narrow 101-100 defeat to Bayern Munich in the EuroLeague.
The arena has a capacity of 16,000 for concerts promoted by global entertainment group and non-exclusive commercial partner Live Nation, while it seats 12,000 for sporting events.
Read more at: https://populous.com/populous-designed-ldlc-arena-opens-in-lyon
Gloucestershire Cricket targets new stadium on edge of Bristol
Gloucestershire Cricket has announced that it is considering leaving Bristol’s Seat Unique Stadium, with the club exploring opportunities for a new stadium development in South Gloucestershire.
Gloucestershire said the decision has been made to ensure its competitiveness and long-term sustainability. The club is now looking to enter into more active negotiations around a potential move to an appropriate new site.
Read more at: https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/gloucestershire-explore-options-for-new-stadium-outside-of-bristol-1411864
HNK Rijeka unveils ‘Return to Kantrida’ masterplan
Croatian top-tier HNL football club, HNK Rijeka, has presented eye catching plans for a new stadium complex as part of its long-running ‘Return to Kantrida’ venture.
The project put forward to the City of Rijeka is backed by a six-strong consortium comprised of: Black kite E&C Investment Fund, Fiume Kantrida Development, Teanna, ZDL arhitekti, Aestus development and Kamgrad. Between them, they are seeking to deliver an initiative dubbed ‘Multifunctional Complex Stadion Kantrida’.
HNK Rijeka has been playing at the temporary Stadion Rujevica since 2015 while it awaits redevelopment of the Stadion Kantrida, which first opened in 1913. Previous efforts to deliver on this goal included the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop a new stadium back in April 2019 with Chinese company Top International Engineering Cooperation (TIEC).
Read more at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-lGmYPWPFQ