It might seem a little tawdry to discuss Everton’s move away from Goodison Park into the newly-named Hill Dickinson Stadium in financial terms. Ultimately, however, this was always all about money.
In seven weeks, Everton will stage their first Premier League match in their new home on Bramley Moore Dock. Before that meeting with Brighton, the soft launch: a friendly against Dan Friedkin’s AS Roma.
Whatever you consider the official start date, the Toffees are moving into a new era, both as a football team and as a commercial entity.
Aerial view of Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium at Bramley Moore Dock
Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
On his way out, Farhad Moshiri forecasted that Everton would earn £43.7m in annual matchday income once the Hill Dickinson Stadium is up and running. The naming rights deal is worth up to an extra £10m per season. Commercially, the new venue has triggered a retail boom, secured the rights to stage lucrative non-football events, and has the facilities to perhaps make eight figures every year from food and drink alone.
This is still the People’s Club, but with an added layer of capitalist gloss that is now a prerequisite to competing in the upper echelons of football finance.
Everton have, however, deliberately left some revenues on the table, opting for a more expensive site in the interests of the city, the community and the club.
“The ownership took a lot of heat because the club struggled so much during the [construction] process,” Dan Meis, the architect behind the Hill Dickinson Stadium tells TBR Football.
“But I tried to remind people that Everton picked a site that was in the benefit of the city and the region just as much as it was for the club.
Updated chart showing the matchday incomes and stadium capacities of top English clubs
Matchday income and stadium capacities chart Credit: Adam Williams/TBR Football/GRV Media
“There was an extra £100m spent just on filling in the dock to make it buildable, for example.
“The stadium could have been in many places that were less expensive to build, but [the ownership] were committed to doing what was right for the club and for the city.”
The stadium, then, is far more valuable than its economic utility.
But T-minus six days until the full dress rehearsal in front of a capacity crowd against Roma, fans are naturally curious about just how financially transformative their new stadium can be.
TBR Football takes a look, with the help of University of Liverpool football finance lecturer and Price of Football podcast host Kieran Maguire.
AS Roma friendly is crucial test for Hill Dickinson Stadium as Everton wary of Premier League fines
In 2023-24, the last financial year for which a full data set is publicly available, Everton earned £19m through the turnstiles at Goodison Park.
In the Premier League matchday income table, that was bottom half. The so-called ‘Big Six’ meanwhile are all aiming to hit £100m-plus every season.
Chart showing Everton matchday income against the Big Six clubs, with TBR Football logo
Everton matchday income chart vs Big Six average Credit: Adam Williams/TBR Football/GRV Media
In the PSR era, you’re only as good as your bottom line, so increasing revenue on matchdays is central to arming David Moyes with the resources he needs to make Everton successful on the pitch.
The Roma friendly, which will be followed by a Legends match, will be the first taste of how lucrative the Hill Dickinson Stadium can truly be on a per-game basis.
As Maguire highlights, however, the occasion will be more centred on making sure things are running smoothly ahead of the Brighton match – especially with regards to transport.
“I think the focus for this match will be on getting things right rather than generating money,” he tells TBR Football.
“It’s also an opportunity for Friedkin to showcase himself. Money will be made but through the megastore and merchandise sales rather than through ticket sales.
“The most important thing is that stewarding, transportation and communications all work. This is the last opportunity to test everything.
“If you muck things up for the Premier League, the organisation takes a very dim view. Look at the decision to fine Manchester City for not getting onto the pitch at the due time at the start of the match and the second half.”
Man City were fined over £1m by the Premier League earlier this summer for the offences Maguire has outlined.
Toffees aiming for £40m-plus bonanza at Bramley Moore Dock
Speaking to TBR Football, Meis emphasised the fact that the new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock was designed as a football-first venue, not an excuse to squeeze in as many hospitality suites as possible.
“The concourses at Everton are pretty Spartan compared to something like Tottenham or the Emirates,” the architect says.
“Part of that is that it is a different market, but also it was a very conscious effort to make this about football. I don’t want to lose the magic of the English grounds.”
But, as any commercial director will tell you, the hospitality market is important. A necessary evil, some might call it.
The more salubrious areas of the stadium, in theory, make the project commercially viable while keeping general admission tickets relatively low. It’s also a space for Friedkin to entertain guests, commercial partners, potentially even new signings and staff.
Everton owner Dan Friedkin poses for the camera at a film festival event
Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images
TBR Football understands that there are around 5,500 hospitality covers available to members. How much will that be worth to the club?
“With hospitality, they have the benefit of the novelty factor,” suggests Maguire.
“Liverpool is a city with considerable wealth in the surrounding areas as well as the city itself. Targeting that market is the smart thing to do.
“The fact that Everton were generating less than £1m per match from Goodison Park has allowed other clubs to steal a march in terms of revenue generation on matchdays.
“Bramley Moore provides an opportunity to double matchday income as a bare minimum and ideally get above £40m. That will be the target.
“In order to do that, you need to be charging premium prices and offering something new. Also, by offering more hospitality covers, people are more likely to stay in the stadium at the end of the match.
“Given that the transport links are unproven, having people drift out of the stadium as opposed to a post-match surge can help with some of the logistical issues there too.”
Incentive-based loan deal for Jack Grealish viable for Everton
What good is a shiny new stadium without a shiny new marquee signing?
Everton’s PSR anxieties have been eased now that the financial year has ticked over, as illustrated by a statement-of-intent new deal for Jarrad Branthwaite.
Manchester City outcast Jack Grealish has been mooted as a potential headline act for the Hill Dickinson Stadium. But, even on loan, his £300,000-a-week wages could be prohibitive.
Manchester City forward Jack Grealish warms up ahead of a match away at Everton, Goodison Park
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
But according to Maguire, the forward is within Everton’s reach if they can structure the arrangement in the right way.
“If Everton negotiate carefully, they can agree to pay a small proportion of Jack Grealish’s wages – perhaps 20-30 per cent – with significant top-ups if he delivers on the pitch.
“You can have a tiered approach with bonuses. That means all parties win. Man City wouldn’t have to pay 100 per cent of the player’s wages when he doesn’t appear to fit in with the culture of the club and the ambitions of the manager. Grealish would get the chance to re-establish his career at the highest level.
“There is no doubt that he is still box-office when he is on form. For Everton, he would be a marquee signing even on a loan basis for when they open Bramley Moore Dock.
“If this results in a better final league position, that can be factored into the fee that Everton pay City, rather on a proportion of his wages.”