Construction has now started as Crystal Palace begin to build the new Main Stand – which was first announced to the public back in 2017.
Steve Parish hopes to see the project increase the capacity of Selhurst Park from 26,000 to beyond 34,000 – which will ensure Crystal Palace make millions of additional cash in matchday revenue.
Due to the global pandemic and the rise of prices for construction materials, however, the project – which has prevented Selhurst Park from hosting a friendly this summer – is now expected to cost around £200m. It was initially priced at £100m.
With only £16m currently being made in matchday revenue, Adam Williams has now suggested to We Are Palace that a potential naming rights deal could help Crystal Palace pay off the new Main Stand sooner.
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Exclusive: Crystal Palace “might consider” copying Tottenham approach
The Head of Football Finance and Governance Content at GRV Media – who successfully predicted the busy winter transfer window – said: “It’s good news for Palace that the Main Stand is going to remain open throughout the entire process, which sounds like it’s going to last until early 2029. That is a long time to go without roughly a quarter of your matchday income.
“That’s going to be particularly important under the new SCR rules. Because they are based on revenue and not profit, matchday income will be of outsized importance for clubs like Palace. Why? Because under the current system, only the net profits of ticket sales, hospitality and so on have a positive impact on your capacity to spend – i.e., you have to deduct staffing costs, utility spending and so on which can add up to tens of millions per season. But under the revenue-based SCR system, you use the revenue from matchdays without deducting expenses. If Palace had only had three stands open while the Main Stand was being developed, it could have been very restrictive in that regard.
“That said, they do have very low gate receipts at about £16m at the last count, which is the very reason that they are actioning this redevelopment.”
Williams – who also recently explained how FIFA have penalised Crystal Palace financially – added: “Another thing I think could be interesting is whether Palace seek out a naming rights deal for the Main Stand once it is redeveloped. Tottenham are moving in the direction of having a branding partner for each stand, as opposed to an overall naming rights deal for the stadium.
“Palace might consider doing the same. That way, a sponsor would get all the publicity from having their brand associated with this sleek new stand while simultaneously not getting the same pushback from Palace fans who would – completely justifiably – not be happy if Selhurst Park lost its name for the sake of capitalising on the expansion.”
