Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium. Inset of Dan Friedkin.
Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium. Inset of Dan Friedkin.
Everton waved farewell to Goodison Park last month and will now move into the new Hill Dickinson Stadium on Bramley-Moore Dock.
Behind the scenes, Dan Friedkin has been working on a number of big-money deals ahead of the stadium’s grand opening in August.
The Friedkins have agreed a naming rights deal worth around £6m-a-year, so Everton are in a much better place financially.
We understand the Hill Dickinson Stadium will generate an extra £40m-a-year in revenue, providing David Moyes’ forthcoming transfer budgets a major boost.
Now, having spoken to finance expert Adam Williams, we can share further details about how much the public has put towards the 52,000-seater and what the American investors are now planning to build around the site.
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Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images
Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images
How much money have the public spent on Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium?
Speaking to Everton News, Williams revealed the public have spent around £16m on the Hill Dickinson Stadium, with further details on that due to be announced imminently.
“Everton claimed a tiny amount of public money for the construction of the stadium and surrounding site – about £16m out of £1800m total costs,” the finance specialist explained.
“I haven’t seen the breakdown but I presume most of that was for the infrastructure around the ground with transport and whatnot.
“Sometimes, the amounts that clubs angle for from the public purse is ludicrous. They try and take the same approach as sports franchises in the US, who get huge amounts of public money. Except, football clubs don’t have the same leverage because A) the economic benefits aren’t as manifold and B) they don’t have the same leverage as US sports sport franchises, who sometimes will just up sticks and leave, so the local authorities give them money to retain them.
“But for Everton, the business case for £16m worth of public money is very clear. The stadium is quite clearly going to generate that amount many times over in terms of its total economic benefit for the region and for the status of Liverpool as a city. It’s not just football matches but concerts, conferences, other sports events and so on. Plus, you have the jobs it’s going to create. Invariably, the economic impact reports are overstated, but there’s no doubt that Bramley Moore Dock is a massive net positive for the area.”
The Friedkins ‘masterplan’ for the surrounding area of Hill Dickinson
Williams also shared some exciting plans the Friedkins have for the surrounding area, which draws similarities to Birmingham City’s idea to build a ‘sports quarter’.
“Everton also have plans for Nelson Dock, which they’re currently in talks to acquire,” he told the website.
“That site already has planning permission and would allow the club to build a mixed-use commercial and residential complex that could be extremely lucrative.
“That seems to be Dan Friedkin’s masterplan: to create a sports quarter similar to what Tom Wagner wants to do at Birmingham. Colin Chong has said they will need a lot more public money to make that happen. How feasible that is, I don’t know.”
These projects will certainly help to facilitate greater resources in the transfer market, thus improving on-pitch matters.
So, there are certainly exciting times on the blue half of Merseyside.