Fulham have ‘no choice’ but to invest amid ‘£40m’ reveal
Fulham’s redevelopment of Craven Cottage and expansion of its hospitality offering was required for the clubs future in the Premier League.
That is according to football finance expert Dr Dan Plumley who exclusively told Football Insider the reasons why Fulham owner Shahid Khan has invested up to £350million into reviving Craven Cottage.
Khan wrote off £70m worth of loans at Fulham and converted them into shares in July amid the work at the clubs West London home.
The Cottagers want to increase revenue to bolster their financial status in the Premier League, with Fulham’s 2-0 defeat at Everton currently having Marco Silva’s side just one point above the relegation zone.
Fulham ‘over reliant on tv money’ amid stadium expansion
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Plumley understands Fulham’s decision to offer extra hospitality at Craven Cottage in a bid to bridge the gap between the Premier League’s biggest club’s.
“That is a lot of investment, and you have to do that to grow stadium revenue. There’s no two ways about it,” Plumley said.
“In infrastructure costs, you can’t get away from that, but what you are doing is trying to future proof and grow long term revenue.
“A lot of these clubs are kind of getting backed into the corner, they’ve almost got to do it.
“And again, if you look at Fulham’s match day revenue, in the last set of accounts, it’s £18million. So that’s a lot of money.
“But it’s not a lot of money in the context of some of the other clubs that will be generating £30 to £40m from matchday.
“The biggest clubs in the Premier League are generating a £100m to £120m from match day revenue.
“Now I know Fulham are not competing with Liverpool, but you can see the gap.
“So in a world where broadcasting money is unearned by the club, it’s dictated to by the broadcasters and what they’re prepared to pay.
“You only have two ways in which you can grow your own revenue. One is match day and one is commercial, unless you’re really thinking outside the box.
“So the only way you grow match day revenue is either increase ticket prices or build new stadium or expand and look at corporate hospitality. You can absolutely see why Fulham are doing it.
“They are one of the clubs at the minute that you would put in that mix of being over reliant on TV money to sustain revenue, that is the challenge.
“So part of this is about how do we mitigate that to a degree, that it does come at a cost. I think it’s not just Fulham.
“There’s a lot of clubs in the Premier League that are in that middle ground, a middle pack that have to do this. And, you know, that does come at a price, but they’ve got no choice.“
Marco Silva could leave Fulham
Fulham want to keep Marco Silva at the club, with the 48 year olds contract expiring at the end of the current season.
Silva wants Fulham to show ambition, and extra revenue gained from the stadium expansion could help the club in convincing the Portuguese to stay.
The Cottagers had a quiet summer transfer window, and will be expected to be busier in January given their current position in the Premier League table.