Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium Diamonds Club – 03/2006

The success of Arsenal’s new Emirates Stadium is dependent on attracting sufficient rich fans to buy a range of expensive packages as well as selling additional seats to regular fans who could not fit into Highbury. Top of the range is the Diamonds package which costs £25,000 up front plus £25,000 a year. For that you get more than a prawn sandwich. The deal includes gourmet cooking, champagne, an exclusive bar and padded seats near to the halfway line. And Diamond Club members can travel with the team on the plane. In addition to the 160 or so seats in the Diamond Club, there are 150 executive boxes, all of which have been reserved and 6,700 ‘Club level’ seats. The best 1,093, close to the halfway line, have been sold on a four year basis and the rest will be sold annually. 90% of them have already been sold and the club is confident there will be a waiting list when the new season starts. However, Nigel Phillips of the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust which represents the club’s small shareholders commented, ‘while the first season will have a novelty factor, many of the premium priced seats have been sold on a one year only basis and it will be a challenge to sell them year after year.’ Arsenal’s stadium move which is costing £390m has been financed by a £196m loan from a consortium of banks with further revenue coming from selling the naming rights. The bank debt is due to be repaid by 2017 but the club is in talks with Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland about launching a bond issue to replace the loan which would mature in 2031. Peter Matthews, head of the technology, media and entertainment practice at accountants Ernst and Young said, ‘Arsenal’s move to the Emirates stadium makes sense in terms of their need to grow revenue and profits to compete at the top level of European football. However, it does bring the risk of needing to service significant debt, putting pressure on the club to consistently qualify for the Champions League.’