If you build it, they will come: how to finance a new stadium

Former Goldman Sachs Head of Global Sports Advisory Elis Wyn Jones joins the show to help explain how major capital investment projects can become reality in sports and entertainment.

It’s the first episode in a three-part series examining the modern venue development business case, co-hosted by HKS Regional Design Director and Principal Alex Thomas and Leaders Editorial Director James Emmett.

Well over half the current Premier League teams are in process with some kind of venue development or redevelopment project.

And with new development projects in top-end sport in the UK costing anywhere from £150 million for a new stand through to £2 billion and more for a new stadium, and in an environment in which government subsidy or public-private partnership is rare, efficient and effective funding models are critical.

But where does the money come from, how is it underwritten, deployed, and eventually returned? What do financing entities want to see in a business plan before they lend, and what are the major risks to be avoided.