Manchester City Bets On Stadium Expansion For Modern Soccer ...

Manchester City wants its stadium to become a "year-round entertainment destination". (Photo: ... [+] Manchester City FC)

At his first soccer matches, Danny Wilson would sit on the railings at Burnden Park, the former home of English team Bolton Wanderers. These were the days when most fans at soccer stadiums would stand on terraces, often inadvertently changing position with the movement of the crowd.

“My Dad was on the terrace behind me. At kick-off he was right behind me and at half-time he was 30 yards down to the right because of the sway down there in the crowd. That’s how football was,” says Wilson, managing director of operations at Manchester City.

A lot has changed in English soccer and at City, the club where Wilson has worked for 25 years.

The year he joined, 1999, City was promoted from the third to second tier of English soccer. Last season, the club won the “treble” – English Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.

The success — City is aiming for a fourth consecutive Premier League title this season — has been driven by investment from Sheikh Mansour's Abu Dhabi United Group, which bought the club in 2008.

The latest off-pitch project is developing the North Stand of the Etihad Stadium, increasing overall capacity from 53,400 to more than 60,000, and turning the area into a “year-round entertainment destination”.

The £300 million ($374m) development will include a sky bar, roof walk, club shop, museum, covered fan zone and 400-bed hotel. The Co-op Live music venue, due to open this month, is also part of the Etihad Campus. The North Stand is set to open for the 2025/26 season.

“We take learnings, not just from other football clubs or sports organizations, but looking more widely at what’s happening in entertainment and how people are wanting to enjoy more interactive, engaging experiences,” Wilson tells me in an exclusive interview.

“That’s what people want nowadays. We're no different as an organization in wanting to adapt to what people want, and how we can do it in a context that's Manchester City related and football related.”

Wilson says different types of fans want diverse experiences at soccer matches. He mentions changes made to the stadium’s South Stand, home to “more vocal fans”, in 2015. When the stand was extended, a new bar was installed. Two years ago, the club started hiring a DJ to play on matchdays. Opening hours were extended, bench seating added and the food and drink offering changed. TV screens were added. Even the lighting was adjusted.

“The fans come in earlier, they stay longer, they’re in there at half-time. It’s great for the atmosphere. And that’s something that appeals to them,” Wilson says.

“So I think progressively, we're shaping neighborhoods and experiences that will appeal to different pockets of fans.”

Danny Wilson, managing director of operations at Manchester City, during an event to celebrate and ... [+] commemorate the first steel arriving at the North Stand development at The Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England. (Photo by Tom Barton/Manchester City FC)

English clubs are seeing the value in encouraging fans to spend more money on matchdays, and making their stadiums destinations even on days without matches.

City reported record revenue of £712.8m ($887.8m) for the 2022/23 season, with matchday revenue less than a third of what the club receives for both commercial and broadcast rights.

(City faces 115 Premier League charges over alleged financial rule breaches, most relating to previous seasons. The club strongly denies the charges).

Growing revenue is a natural aim of the stadium expansion. By increasing “dwell time” – time fans spend in and around the stadium — clubs can increase sales.

Tottenham Hotspur, which opened its $1.1 billion stadium five years ago, now makes £71 per fan, per match. That is nearly double what City brings in, according to soccer finance expert Kieran Maguire.

“We've got figures there, we’ve done extensive modelling of the business case for this, like we do with every kind of proposal we put in to our board for approval,” Wilson says.

“This is about looking at the opportunity outside of matchday primarily. There's a huge opportunity for our fans on matchday to have a better time when they come to the stadium. But that’s 30 times a year, and that’s with good draws and cup runs each year.

“So it's the opportunity outside of that to attract new people now, to attract people during times of day when the site's quiet.”

City Square, the public fan zone, gives the club the opportunity to “program content every day of the week”, encouraging both local and visiting international fans to visit.

“When they arrive on site, a lot of people are going to want something to eat and drink over that period, or they might pop in the (club) shop,” Wilson says.

“It's looking at (the project) in a transformative way, rather than a more traditional football club increasing its revenues on those 25 to 30 (match)days of the year.”

City says the stadium expansion will be a big positive for the local community. An estimated 890 full-time construction jobs will be created during the three-year build and the increased amenities, bars and restaurants will offer additional roles.

The club is working with Manchester City Council to ensure jobs are available to people living in the immediate area, one of the most economically deprived in the UK.

Growing up with a more traditional match-going soccer experience, Wilson knows not all fans will value post-match DJs, tunnel clubs and stadium roof walks. Some will want to see soccer the way they always have.

“Across our match-attending fan base, we've got an incredibly significant percentage of long-standing supporters who want an experience in a way that they've experienced football since they were a kid,” Wilson says.

“But what this isn't about is trying to kind of force people into changing behaviors. We want all our fans to enjoy football matches at the Etihad Stadium, in a way that's right for them.”