Are you used to calling it the Hill Dickinson Stadium yet? Thought not – but naming rights are just the tip of the iceberg as Everton plot even bigger changes for their new home at Bramley Moore Dock.
The 52,888-seater stadium officially opens its doors for Everton’s senior men’s team in just over two months’ time.
T-minus two weeks until fixture release date, the mood music suggests that, should the Toffees be drawn at home in the opening round of fixtures, they may well kick off the 2025-26 Premier League season on Friday 15 August in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
In the meantime, Everton are expecting their biggest summer in the transfer market for quite some time, although thanks to the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), it is admittedly a low bar.
Chart showing the profit and loss account of Everton, with TBR Football logo
Everton profit and loss chart Credit: Adam Williams/TBR Football/GRV Media
Towards the end of his reign, Farhad Moshiri was tighter than a submarine door. As well as PSR constraints, the former owner’s money simply ran out. Even if the Merseysiders had the headroom, they wouldn’t have been able to make use of it.
After years of indiscriminate spending with little return on investment, the Monaco-based businessman took on high-interest debt from a variety of lenders to cover running costs.
But after 30 June when the PSR assessment window rolls over into a new three-year monitoring period, Dan Friedkin should be able to turn on the afterburners. The £115m loss they suffered in 2022-23 (which, as it happens, was only the third heaviest in the Moshiri era), drops out of the equation.
And perhaps more significantly, The Friedkin Group have refinanced the club’s debt through a syndicated loan organised by JPMorgan, which includes a revolving credit facility (an overdraft, essentially) and a repayment term on the stadium debt that will be kinder to Everton’s short-term cash flow.
Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images
Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images
Everton aren’t in the clear just yet – don’t expect to see full-fat, lavish spending this summer. Friedkin and his deputies will continue to player-trade to eke out more PSR headroom and rebase David Moyes’ squad. However, the newly-named Hill Dickinson Stadium will, in the medium and long-term, be their salvation.
There is a growing contingent of well-resourced, well-run clubs whose ambition it is to challenge the orthodoxy of the so-called ‘Big Six’. The revenue gap between the Big Six and the rest is actually growing, but thinking smart trumps spending big.
Chart showing the revenue of the Premier League's 'Big Six' clubs vs the rest of the division
Premier League Big Six vs Non Bis Six revenue Credit: Adam Williams/TBR Football/GRV Media
With Everton forecasting matchday income of £43.7m at the Hill Dickinson, up from £19m last season, plus the various commercial benefits which the club think could take overall stadium revenue closer to £70m annually, there is no reason they cannot become part of that ambitious contingent. In fact, they probably have a better platform than the lot.
What’s more, the owners think there is far, far more value to be extracted from Bramley Moor Dock, provided they get the finances right.
Colin Chong calls for public funding as Everton look to expand Hill Dickinson Stadium site
Everton were recently revealed to be in the final stages of discussions to acquire Nelson Dock, the plot of land next door to Bramley Moore Dock.
The plan? A “sports-led redevelopment,” according to Colin Chong, Everton’s former interim CEO, whose role has been filled by Angus Kinnear but who is staying on to oversee the evolution of the stadium project. Peel Ports, the land’s current owners, have already secured planning permission for the site.
Aerial view of Everton's Bramley Moore Dock Stadium, with overlay showing the location of Nelson Dock
Nelson Dock, next door to Everton’s Bramley Moore Dock stadium Credit: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images
Around the perimeter of the disused dock, Everton want to create a mixed-use commercial and residential space, with hotels, shops, a sports centre and apartments.
Friedkin, in his capacity as owner of AS Roma, is overseeing a similar development in the Italian capital. Indeed, the concept of a ‘sports city’ with a new-build stadium at its heart is increasingly the go-to model for owners of elite clubs.
Manchester United, Birmingham City, Leeds United and Newcastle United are all thinking along similar lines with their own stadium projects, which are being pitched as catalysts for urban regeneration.
Chart showing the matchday incomes and stadium capacities of England's biggest clubs, with TBR Football logo
Matchday income and stadium capacity graph Credit: Adam Williams/TBR Football/GRV Media
Essentially, the clubs need investment from the government – and, in turn, the public purse – to make the projects commercially justifiable. In return, they say the projects will activate economic growth.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Chong said: “We need a third of financial support to come from government [and] until we’ve got that commitment, things really aren’t that viable.”
How much “a third” is exactly, we don’t yet know, but it will likely run into the £100m-plus bracket.
Incidentally, Chong was speaking at the MIPIM festival in Cannes, where one of Friedkin’s other clubs, AS Cannes, is based. The 60-year-old is also trying to force through plans for a new stadium for AS Roma, though that has been a long-running saga with many false dawns.
Return on capital key to Nelson Dock proposal – Kieran Maguire
Also speaking to the Financial Times, Liverpool city region mayor Steve Rotherham was playing hardball on the subject of public funding, saying: “We haven’t got hundreds of millions to invest in public transport infrastructure when it’s going to be used for six hours every fortnight.”
So, how will Everton outline the business case for public funds and ensure that the expanded Hill Dickinson site is frequented not just on matchdays but 365 days per year?
“I would look at the potential return on investment from a local government perspective,” says University of Liverpool football finance lecturer and Price of Football podcast host Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to TBR Football.
“We talk about the public purse but there are a variety of different sources of government funding – you have got central government funding, local government funding, the lottery fund, various grants for sports and so on.
“You need to look at how exactly the money is going to be spent. If you’re not spending money on X, you have to spend it on Y.
“It will have to be carefully assessed and it will have to be done with a forensic approach as opposed to an emotional response driven by the excitement generated by Bramley Moore Dock.
“It looks absolutely magnificent. As an away fan, the fixtures come out soon and I’m desperate for that to be one I can attend. So there are lots of positives, but you have to be careful because there are so many of these projects being announced.
“If you look at what happens in the United States, sports clubs owners have leveraged the power of the franchise with veiled threats to move away from the city. Things can get very, very complicated very quickly.”