Everton could be set to increase their Hill Dickinson Stadium capacity over the coming years after a successful start to their new chapter on the docks.
The Hill Dickinson Stadium has been given a strong start to life, with Everton going their opening four games without defeat before playing Tottenham Hotspur.
At the weekend, the new Everton home hosted its very first international rugby fixture, which proved a roaring success.
One rugby reporter hailed the Hill Dickinson Stadium as better than Old Trafford given its modern facilities.
The plans on Merseyside under The Friedkin Group are big and the stadium is going to play a huge part in pulling the club forward.
As a result, Everton want to increase the Hill Dickinson Stadium capacity to over 62,000, and this could provide a huge financial benefit.
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Everton in line for financial gain from Hill Dickinson Stadium expansion
Saturday’s event proved a huge success and Everton could already be set to host more rugby fixtures at their state-of-the-art home in 2026.
Future events could prove an even bigger hit for Everton over the coming years if the club are able to find a way to add an extra 10,000 seats in their new home.
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Speaking to Everton News, finance expert Adam Williams have shed some light on the financial benefits expanding the stadium would offer the Friedkins.
“Sources at Everton have said that they are modelling for £43.7m in matchday income this season,” Williams told Everton News.
“If you divide that over the current capacity, 52,800, you get a yield of about £828 per seat in the Hill Dickinson. So if you do a crude pro-rata calculation and multiply that figure by 62,000, you get to nearly £51.5m.
“However, because it sounds like the reconfiguration being mooted would focus mainly on safe standing, the final figure probably wouldn’t be as high as that because those spaces are cheaper than, for example, the hospitality and premium areas of the stadium, so that brings down your average.”
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish was wowed by the Hill Dickinson Stadium, with the 60-year-old actually disappointed at how good the new-age stadium was.
The general consensus is that Everton have got the stadium almost perfect, but adding more seats would certainly be the cherry on top of the cake.
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The Friedkins have created demand over Hill Dickinson Stadium
There is very little doubting that Everton could sell out a much bigger stadium than they currently occupy.
But there is also a belief in the industry that the club have maintained a high demand for tickets by not oversizing their new home.
Everton have already made upgrades to the Hill Dickinson Stadium through the addition of more club-related decorations around the ground.
The Friedkins have transformed Everton’s finances over the last year, but Williams feels the previous regime may have set up a real success story in designing the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
“Everton definitely could have gone bigger with the stadium and satisfied the demand that’s there among Evertonians, but from a business perspective they were looking at creating scarcity value. They call it ‘right-sizing’ in the industry and there’s a lot of analysis that goes into it,” Williams added.
“That’s why clubs that could sell 100,000 tickets most games don’t just build bigger and bigger stadiums. When you build, the construction cost per seat rises the higher up you build. So you have a situation where the costs are going up but, because the seats are furthest away from the pitch, the yield is simultaneously going down.
“That’s perhaps an oversimplification, but hopefully that gives you a sense of why, from a commercial perspective, Everton thought 52,000 was amply big.”