King Power Stadium expansion wait only exacerbates two-pronged Leicester City problem
Work on the expansion of the King Power Stadium won’t begin until 2026 at the earliest and it’s news that further harms the club’s chances of recruiting a new generation of supporters.
When the plans were announced in the summer of 2021, it was outlined that City hoped to begin work before the end of the 2022-23 campaign. The earliest expected completion date was the third quarter of 2024.
The third quarter of 2024 has been and gone and yet there are still no spades in the ground. There were delays in getting full planning permission, which was only granted last December, and City, understandably, have to wait for the right market conditions to start building work on what will be a hugely expensive undertaking.
READ MORE:Leicester City change relegation verdict as new bottom three predicted
READ MORE:Leicester City starting XI as unpopular selection could be the perfect one for Steve Cooper
But the longer the wait for the extra 8,000 seats that the stadium expansion will bring, the more City risk missing out on potential fans. Because right now, the scarcity and price of tickets means there’s very little scope for new supporters to get down to the King Power.
With City now well into their Premier League return and on-field matters taking focus, it can be easy to forget the storms that rumbled over tickets during the summer. The fury over the £25 charge for season-ticket holders to receive a physical card prompted a backpedal of sorts from the club, who diverted the money raised to charity.
Then came the matchday ticket prices. City’s season tickets, despite a price rise, remained reasonably cheap by Premier League standards. But the hikes over matchday tickets were considerable.
Some seats rose by 38 per cent on the club’s last Premier League campaign two seasons ago. The cheapest adult ticket rose by £3 to £33 but those were for Category C fixtures, a new tier of matches, and it’s not been disclosed how many games that covers.
For a Category A fixture, such as those against the so-called big six and Nottingham Forest, the cheapest matchday ticket is £44. In some seating areas, tickets cost as much as £72. At the time, fan group the Foxes Trust said they were left “shocked” by the steepness of the rise.
Those prices diminish the chances of the club welcoming in new supporters. If a matchday costs a parent and child £94 to attend – that’s the combined price of one adult and one under-12 ticket to a Category A game in certain areas of the stadium – people will be put off. That is a significant outlay.
And it probably will drive local youngsters towards supporting other clubs. Everybody in Leicester remembers when they were growing up that there would always be a section of kids who pledged their allegiance to the most successful club of the era, no matter where in the country they were based.
But local kids are far more likely to support their local team if they get to experience the thrill and buzz of attending a live game, sitting in the crowd and joining 30,000 others in celebrating the ball hitting the net. If they can’t do that, and they’re only watching games on the television, they’re more likely to be drawn to those clubs who are featured more often and who score the most goals, and that’s rarely City.
But the price of tickets is not the only problem. It’s the lack of availability. Last season, in the Championship, only three games reached general sale. There are 22,500 season-ticket holders, of which there is very little movement year on year, while there are 18,000 members beyond that, and they only get a shot at around 3,000-3,500 tickets per home game. Even those forking out for a membership – and they’re not cheap either – are not guaranteed to be able to grab a ticket for the games they want to attend. For those that aren’t a member and don’t have any connections to a season-ticket holder, getting a ticket for a league game can be tough.
To some degree, that issue can’t be helped. City have managed to develop a very loyal fanbase. Even relegation after a near decade in the top flight did not stop games from being sold out. The average attendance at City last season was over 31,000. The last time they were in the Championship, it was less than 25,000. Fans aren’t deserting the club.
And that’s why it feels so important to make the stadium bigger. Because City have a loyal fanbase and they’re filling out the ground every week. But they need to give themselves the opportunity to bring in the next generation. To do that, they simply need more, and cheaper, seats available. Let’s hope they get the spades out soon.