Everton urged to emulate Tottenham venue and grasp ‘real opportunity’ with new stadium
Everton will be happily watching their stadium come together, and the latest comments from CLV Group chief Neil Joyce may have the Toffees even more excited.
Everton have set a timeframe of the 2024/25 season as an ideal date to start using their new 52,888-seater stadium. The venue being built at the Bramley-Moore Dock is coming along nicely and will mark a huge change for the Toffees.
Waving goodbye to Goodison Park will be a hugely emotional moment for the club, but Joyce has urged Everton to take full advantage of the ‘real opportunity’ that a new venue presents.
“Having pop concerts and other entertainment events at football stadiums isn’t new but turning the stadium into something versatile enough that it can be doing those kind of things 24/7 is new, and digital technology enables it,” Joyce told the Liverpool Echo.
“It is a real opportunity to be truly multimedia.
“Tottenham’s new stadium is well publicised and anyone who has been there would probably attest to it being the number one venue in Europe right now.
“Spurs’ stadium became an NFL stadium and was branded with Fanatics merchandise, the Spurs store became an NFL store with all the Fanatics merchandise. Everton can look at those bespoke events, whether they are sporting, media or entertainment events, and looking at customising those events around fans as opposed to being just a football stadium that is showing a concert.”
Football’s new age
Football’s current state is sadly corporate and clubs are constantly looking to expand their revenue and brand at any given opportunity.
Everton’s new stadium definitely plays into that, but the club would be silly not to maximise all gains they can get from the venue.
As pointed out by Joyce, Tottenham have had great success with their new stadium both in football matches and in other events. Their state-of-the-art venue makes them an appealing place to host events.
Everton can do the same in Merseyside, and in doing so the new stadium can eclipse Anfield’s presence entirely. It’ll not only be a stadium known for hosting Everton, but also as an entertainment hub for Liverpool.
But while the idea of Everton building a brand is very exciting, the board need to keep it at the forefront of their mind that football has to come first. Everton will always be known as the People’s Club, and this new stadium has to represent community and opportunity as much as it does brand exposure and revenue.