‘Breaking point’ - Newcastle United supporters given bleak warning on St James’ Park rebuild
Football financial expert Stefan Borson believes Newcastle United supporters will pay “high prices” should the club build a new stadium.
St James' Park’s future has become a hot topic on Tyneside in recent months. Brad Miller, appointed Newcastle’s Chief Operating Officer last summer, revealed a decision is expected to come in early 2025.
That landmark announcement could be days or weeks away and is guaranteed to have a seismic impact on the club’s trajectory. Fans are torn, with FFP/PSR restrictions the key motive behind whatever decision takes place.
The Magpies have played at St James’ Park since 1892 and the ground is at the heart of the city centre. Demolishing the stadium would have seemed like sacrilege a few years ago but some fans are warming to the idea.
As of yet, nothing has been confirmed as supporters eagerly await the club’s confirmation. Speaking to Football Insider, monetary guru Borson predicts price hikes should Newcastle build a new state-of-the-art venue.
“If you build a stadium for, let’s say, £2billion, you have got a very difficult challenge on getting a return on that investment unless you can push prices very high,” he said. “If you are saying one of your other routes is you can’t sell or can’t get full value for the land for St James’ Park, which is in a central location and has a relatively high value, if you can’t get let’s say £250million in for the current site, at some point, the economics don’t work on building a new stadium in Newcastle.
“I don’t know what that breaking point is. Newcastle have got super smart people around the table on this and I am not going to teach them anything about how to do that property deal.
“But they will be thinking ‘Does this make a financial return and can it make financial sense?’ If you keep taking bits out and you are not getting a return from this plot of land because you have got a problem selling it or a planning issue, it’s going to have an impact.”