New Stadium

Having followed NFL and been a stadium geek for many years, the way that stadiums are funded in the US is completely different to over here. Just take the 49ers newish stadium and how it was built where it was due to the local authority area putting up the best deal even though the stadium is poorly designed and in an area with no public transport links.

 

There is nothing wrong with Valley parade . Does It needs a bit of TLC , certainly and the club have started on this, but like most things money is the guiding factor.
Odsal , super dome, Wembley of the north is all pie in the sky and has been talked about since the 1950's. Nothing has got off the drawing board and never will. It might be an ideal location on the m606 , but would bring very little to the city economy with fans getting off there ,entering a stadium and then leaving after the event. Putting money into the stadium owners pockets and not the wider economy.
The council should have bought Valley parade not Gibb's pension fund. Moved the Bulls down and helped to develop the stadium to cope with both sports, and then charged both rent at a reasonable amount, thus bringing a steady income, which would have repaid any outlay, Odsal could then have bee used for land fill, with a view to future development for light industries , right on the said motorway, again bringing income to the council from any commercial deals.
£2.5 cost of Valley parade + £1million in start up = £3.5 million. By the time of the lease end with Gibb over £ 9 million in rent will have been paid. No brainer, but as we know , you have to have no brain to work in the top council position's.
Also how much money would be lost to the bars and restaurants around the city centre on a matchday, if the football club moved away , or how much more could have been generated with the bulls down there and the ground used more than 23 times a year.
No lets move to a stadium outside the city , where the captive audience have to pay for what is on offer , Carlsburg at £4 -£5 a pint or more. More car journeys to get there and pay for the privilage to park.
Unless they build a rail link or supertram at the same time, where would you put this new stadium. Odsal is not the answer and never will be.

 

If the product is good they will come and watch it.

 

Of course people would move to a new stadium. we go for the football not the Arena its played in.
The reality here though, this is Bradford and where is the investment going to come from.
A new 25000 stadium including purchase of land and surrounding infastructure , is going to cost £100 million at an educated guess. The council , no way. Mr Rupp, dream on , outside investment , no chance, with a league 2 football club and championship rugby league club.

 

For some people it would depend on where it is. The people who come to matches at the moment by train would likely need to change to get a train to Low Moor then either have a long walk or a taxi to Odsal/Richard Dunns which will probably put some off. Same with busses, they might need to get a couple of busses so they decide to stay away or go less often like Bolton fans did when they moved out of the city centre.

 

As i said in an earlier post, nothing wrong with Valley parade, and it is central for fans from all directions of the district , also on major bus and train routes. If we were to leave Valley parade , then of course the fans will follow, especially if the team are performing well. I just do not see the need at the present time .
If we owned the stadium, this scenario would not come up. In our current league 2 status the rental agreement is a nightmare , £8000+ per week, championship with all the added revenue, especially tv money , which equates to about £90000 per week, its a pittance.

 

Let’s be honest you could swallow that in Odsal in half an hour. They really need to use it as a landfill, which would benefit Bradford for 50 years in landfill fees. That could be invested sensibly but we are back with the age old question.. BCFC is a private venture. Why should the tax payers fund a stadium that will see little use and return in rent ? Plus it’s too far away from the centre making it beyond walking distance for most City fans .

 

That goes for, but there are financial exceptions like Leeds/ Manchester etc, most post industrial towns and cities in the UK ,please don’t think otherwise. We aren’t on our own.

 

I rarely see bigger shit holes than Bradford. Not saying they don't exist; I know they do. But this city IS a shit hole. Continual decline on every level.

 

It is well know that history says predominantly Rugby fans come from South of the City and football North and West. All due to not having to cross the City Centre and within walking distance perhaps?

 

Coastal Towns for example once thriving on fishing and those thriving on holidays. Seriously most towns and City’s are dumps . Been to Peterborough lately? Once a fantastic thriving place 25 years ago……now . Aargh

 

All on borrowed money, so is Spurs, West Ham got a new ground for rental peanuts because of an completely inept political leader.

 

ABSOLUTELY spot on ! Post of the week!

 

Not been to Peterborough before. I'll take your word for it. At least they have an ambitious and exciting football team to watch on a weekend!

 

Trust me , it was a thriving place , inherently based on its agricultural base, yes lots of EU migrant workers helped . However since the brick industry , for one, went into decline it’s fallen off a cliff. We were there again recently and I was shocked the change Brexit has brought. I cannot think of another explanation. It’s town centre was as busy as Bradford…… not!

 

Brexit? That old chestnut.

 

History isn't statistics.

 

A long walk to Odsal from the Low Moor station? It's about 10 minutes, fifteen at most, about the same distance as the much hyped North Parade to Valley Parade.