Sources: Man City stadium expansion plans revealed as £10m-a-year boom imminent
Man City could play in front of as many as 62,170 spectators under plans to expand the Etihad Stadium’s North Stand, Football Insider has learned.
The club announced in December last year that they had begun feasibility studies to take capacity at the former Commonwealth Games venue “beyond 60,000”.
Documents seen by Football Insider show that the true number could be as high as 62,170, an 8,770 increase in the current number of seats.
It can also be confirmed that, as previously reported elsewhere, City have once again enlisted stadium development experts Populous, who oversaw the South Stand redevelopment project completed in 2015.
The designs will also encompass a new fan zone, club shop, dedicated workplace, and an on-site hotel.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire told Football Insider shortly after City announced their intentions to expand the North Stand that the plans could boost their matchday income by as much as £10million per year.
Manchester City Council, who own the Etihad Stadium, have already given the go-ahead to the expansion plans as part of the last planning application process in 2014.
This site revealed in October last year that the taxpayer earns £5.5m per year from the rental agreement that City have in place with the local authorities, almost double the sum they paid in the first year of the renegotiated lease in 2010-11.
That figure still represents superb value for money for the Abu Dhabi-backed club, who raked in £54.5m through the turnstiles in 2021-22.
The last major shakeup at the Etihad came ahead last season when City removed 1,100 front-row seats to make room for a double-sized perimeter advertising system.
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