Newcastle United fans should learn about the future of St James’ Park shortly.
PIF have been presented with two stadium proposals – to build a new venue or to expand upon St James’ Park.
The Newcastle United owners are expected to announce a final decision shortly but reports claim PIF prefer a new stadium.
St James’ Park currently has a capacity of 52,000, but it has been claimed that Newcastle’s new stadium will have 68,000 seats, whereas a renovation project would likely expand current capacity to around 60,000.
Regardless of what PIF choose to do, it will be an expensive project with a new stadium expected to cost £1.2bn.
Everton stadium price teaches Newcastle lesson
Newcastle are just one of several Premier League teams who are considering building a new stadium in the near future.
Tottenham have benefitted financially from their new 62,850-capacity stadium, while Everton recently finished their 52,888-capacity stadium.
Newcastle fans criticised Everton’s stadium after it hosted its first match and Newcastle fans reacted to Manchester United’s stadium plans by sending PIF a clear message.
As Newcastle prepare to potentially reveal stadium plans of their own, the full cost of Everton’s stadium has now been revealed.
Everton published their full accounts and as pointed out by The Sun, the full cost of the stadium came to just over £802million.
Initially, Everton were planning to spend just £300m on a new stadium, so the construction fees went well over budget. It is something Newcastle can look at before finalising their plains.
Will Newcastle United’s stadium costs impact PSR?
Once a stadium decision is finalised and revealed to fans, Newcastle can start plotting how to finance the project.
Unlike Manchester United, who sought public funding for their new stadium, Newcastle have the advantage of extremely wealthy owners who will be capable of handling a bill of over £1bn.
Newcastle fans will be aware that they have been wrestling with the Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules, but the good news is that infrastructure investment is not included in PSR calculations.
However, what does count in PSR calculations is any interest payments from debt that may have been built up through the stadium construction costs.
Premier League rivals such as Tottenham had to monitor their transfer spend after building their new stadium as it was largely funded through debt.
However, if PIF are willing to cover the bill for the stadium without adding debt onto Newcastle, then a new stadium can be built without impacting the club’s on-pitch progress.
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