There’s been talk of a possible groundshare between Sunderland and rivals Newcastle United at the Black Cats’ Stadium of Light. Needless to say, it’s garnered a lot of talk among both sets of fans on social media.
Newcastle United look set to announce plans to renovate St James’ Park in the coming weeks or possibly months. It’s been talked up for a while now and it’s even been suggested that the Magpies could groundshare at the Stadium of Light whilst their ground gets renovated.
Although there’s been no official reports stating so, it has been suggested by one journalist that Sunderland and Newcastle United could groundshare at the Stadium of Light, which can hold up to 50,000 spectators.
Sunderland fans aren’t too impressed by the suggestion. Nor are Newcastle United fans. The Magpies could either renovate St James’ Park or build an entirely new ground altogether, but a renovation could force them to play their games elsewhere.
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Expert talks Sunderland and Newcastle United groundshare with Magpies facing £40m blackhole
Sunderland AFC New has spoken to football finance expert Adam Williams about the situation: how likely it is and what it could mean for both clubs.
He told us: “From a strictly financial perspective, ground sharing with Sunderland would be a no-brainer. Newcastle would pay a rental fee – probably a few millions for a season – and Sunderland might retain a small cut of gate receipts too.
“But it would allow Newcastle to continue seating almost 50,000 fans per matchday instead of drastically reducing their capacity to accommodate development work at St James’ Park.
“Given the PSR position and the fact that Darren Eales [Newcastle CEO] has said that the club will always spend the absolute maximum permitted by the financial rules, it’s absolutely critical that Newcastle continue to earn matchday income while the rebuild is ongoing.
“Newcastle earn around £40m annually at St James’ Park and they can’t afford to forego that kind of income, even if it is just for a single season. That would be another advantage of building a new ground on a new site. They would be able to continue to play at St James, just as have Everton have continued at Goodison ahead of the move to Bramley Moore Dock.”
Williams though has suggested a potential third option for Newcastle, which would be a ‘phased expansion’ of St James’ Park, wherein they take a smaller hit to their matchday revenue.
He continued: “The alternative is a phased expansion of the stadium, like we have seen at Liverpool. That way, you might take a small matchday income hit but nothing too substantial.”
On the whole though, given the sheer rivalry between Sunderland and Newcastle, a groundshare seems unlikely, even before considering what would be a logistical nightmare for both clubs.
“If they were temporary tenants at the Stadium of Light, it would work the same way as West Ham’s rental deal for the London Stadium does, or how Tottenham managed the intervening years after knocking down White Lane but before the new stadium opened.
“In principle, it looks like a good deal. However, the fact that it is Sunderland means that this, I think, is a non-starter.
“For one, the match calendar would have to be heavily doctored to accommodate both clubs playing at the stadium on different weekends. With Sunderland playing a minimum of 23 times there per season in the Championship, they would need to find an extra 19-plus matchdays for Newcastle.
“Then there are issues around policing. That is before you even get to the fact that this sort of deal wouldn’t be palatable for either fanbase.
“So it’s an interesting idea, but I’d be shocked if it came to fruition.”