Potential New Ground

[Sheik djibouti]

I agree, the ground did look impressive. There is certainly lots of OUFC imagery in place now and for anyone looking in on that on the telebox could be forgiven for thinking it was ours....

Whilst the concourses are largely cold, characterless and under-utilised voids, they are not all that different to many modern stadia. I can remember going to the Emirates for the first time a couple of years ago and thinking...meh, not all that! The difference is they own it (or at least make revenue from it) and have some latitude in what they are able to offer there, not to mention having nearly ten times the footfall.

Maybe, maybe the "other" site the club owners are looking to acquire is never intended to be for development of a stadium but instead is part of a deal for the stadium. We stay where we are and the acquired land, ripe for development, will be sold to Kassam for further housing/leisure and will be offset against the overall cost of purchasing the Grenoble Rd site....his final mark on Oxford before he foxtrot oscars to Monaco for good

Stranger things have happened....

 

[Essexyellows]

Eventually people will realise that we aren`t going anywhere anytime soon.
The lease end is the elephant in the room and as the time diminish`s it gains more leverage.

It`s our very own "brexit". ?

Kassam- not bothered, happy to flatten it for housing. Restricted by covenants etc (not that he plays by the rules).

Us - Paying extortionate rent with no alternative. New lease pending.

Buy the lease & the stadium , not the ground under it, and then work on a ground that reflects our status akin to Brentford.

It looked really good on the telly I must say !

 

[Sheik djibouti]

Eventually people will realise that we aren`t going anywhere anytime soon.
The lease end is the elephant in the room and as the time diminish`s it gains more leverage.

It`s our very own "brexit". ?

Kassam- not bothered, happy to flatten it for housing. Restricted by covenants etc (not that he plays by the rules).

Us - Paying extortionate rent with no alternative. New lease pending.

Buy the lease & the stadium , not the ground under it, and then work on a ground that reflects our status akin to Brentford.

It looked really good on the telly I must say !

Can we call it Kasexit please?....even though it sounds all wrong.

When do you start the "tick-tock" posts...and are you making arrangements for the bells of Christchurch to chime when Kasexit day is finally delivered.

Hell....why not go the whole hog and have an in out referendum on here and then demand the club deliver da will of da peeple

 

[AbbeyOx]

Can we call it Kasexit please?....even though it sounds all wrong.

When do you start the "tick-tock" posts...and are you making arrangements for the bells of Christchurch to chime when Kasexit day is finally delivered.

Hell....why not go the whole hog and have an in out referendum on here and then demand the club deliver da will of da peeple

like it - we can send in donations.
cash for kassam Christchurch chimes

 

[Sarge]

like it - we can send in donations.
cash for kassam Christchurch chimes

do it right.... lets have Carfax chimes as well

 

[Foley]

Eventually people will realise that we aren`t going anywhere anytime soon.
The lease end is the elephant in the room and as the time diminish`s it gains more leverage.
It looked really good on the telly I must say !

Totally disagree.
The club can simply run the licence over for another 25 years
Kassam would love the club to leave I'd he can get planning for housing.
He would gladly release the club from the lease if they found a home.
Didnt he even suggest to Oxvox that he would make a payment towards the new ground to let the club move?

 

[SteMerritt]

Can we call it Kasexit please?....even though it sounds all wrong.

Oxit, surely?

 

[Victor1986]

Can't believe it takes some good telly angles to convince people that staying at our present ground is the way forward. It is possible (with not an enormous spend) to improve the general appearance & ambiance at the ground & also with a fourth stand & the corners filled in it will be quite a thing. A community purchase is the way to go - Uncle Firoz knows that the stadium & its parking is worth only £10M (with Planning Permission for housing - which will not be easy to acquire) so he would be a fool to not do a deal in the near future.

 

[AbbeyOx]

do it right.... lets have Carfax chimes as well

read that as ceefax - thought that was still how you get all your info sarge, being a luddite ?

 

[Sarge]

read that as ceefax - thought that was still how you get all your info sarge, being a luddite ?

smoke signals & jungle drums are preferable...ceefax is far too technological for me to grap entirely

 

[ZeroTheHero]

The thorny fact remains that anyone spending £13m (or whatever) on buying and refurbishing Grenoble Road has to have some way of getting their money back. If anyone can persuade me that this is doable (whilst the football club also takes enough of the income to be sustainable) then fair enough. But there is a reason why nobody has done it yet! A new stadium (and surrounding development) would be done not because the club NEEDS a new ground, it would be done because that is the ONLY way an 'investor' (or group of them) would make a profit.

 

[Sheik djibouti]

The thorny fact remains that anyone spending £13m (or whatever) on buying and refurbishing Grenoble Road has to have some way of getting their money back. If anyone can persuade me that this is doable (whilst the football club also takes enough of the income to be sustainable) then fair enough. But there is a reason why nobody has done it yet! A new stadium (and surrounding development) would be done not because the club NEEDS a new ground, it would be done because that is the ONLY way an 'investor' (or group of them) would make a profit.

As if anyone is in football to actually get their money back

Only way that will ever happen is when you become like half the Prem that doesn't need to have a crowd watching their game at all. Big TV, big merch and big ad revenue is where it's at and until you have that kind of pull, you might as well set fire to your money.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

But the 'investors' have a history of property development. They are not particularly interested in the club - they are not going to spend that type of money without a return.

 

[Sith Lord]

Again having some media exposure and being on the telly coupled with some success on the pitch it gets us out there.
What I mean by that is someone with deep pockets that thinks "Yeah, Oxford United, fancy buying them"

One day we will pick up a Leicester City type bloke who will invest his millions, just because he can and takes us to the promise land..

I can see the headlines.... "Newcastle takeover with the Saudis has fallen through and they have decided to buy Oxford United"

It's lovely to dream!

 

[SteMerritt]

Again having some media exposure and being on the telly coupled with some success on the pitch it gets us out there.
What I mean by that is someone with deep pockets that thinks "Yeah, Oxford United, fancy buying them"

One day we will pick up a Leicester City type bloke who will invest his millions, just because he can and takes us to the promise land..

I can see the headlines.... "Newcastle takeover with the Saudis has fallen through and they have decided to buy Oxford United"

It's lovely to dream!

I know that being a Sith you are of course predisposed to being more evil than most, but I'd rather stay where we are than have Saudi money in the club.

 

[Essexyellows]

The thorny fact remains that anyone spending £13m (or whatever) on buying and refurbishing Grenoble Road has to have some way of getting their money back. If anyone can persuade me that this is doable (whilst the football club also takes enough of the income to be sustainable) then fair enough. But there is a reason why nobody has done it yet! A new stadium (and surrounding development) would be done not because the club NEEDS a new ground, it would be done because that is the ONLY way an 'investor' (or group of them) would make a profit.

1. Not paying rent.
2. Club & Ground are one (resale value).
3. Income from all the stuff we don`t currently get income from.
4. Increase in income from those who don`t spend money at the ground.
5. Probably some tax efficiency in there as well.
6. Fourth stand (temporary or otherwise).
7. Increased income from 6.
8. Potential from Events/Groundshare etc.
9. Flat`s in the corners. Rental or sale income.
10. The long "lost" East Stand supporters club.

Just off the top of my head.

 

[Marked Ox]

1. Not paying rent.
2. Club & Ground are one (resale value).
3. Income from all the stuff we don`t currently get income from.
4. Increase in income from those who don`t spend money at the ground.
5. Probably some tax efficiency in there as well.
6. Fourth stand (temporary or otherwise).
7. Increased income from 6.
8. Potential from Events/Groundshare etc.
9. Flat`s in the corners. Rental or sale income.
10. The long "lost" East Stand supporters club.

Just off the top of my head.

Not paying rent will have an opportunity cost for the investor (at the least loss of return on investing the money involved elsewhere) or the club/investor would have to repay debt for buying the stadium.

 

[yellowbow]

We’re now nearly at the second anniversary of Tiger taking over and, unless they are hiding it very well, there still doesn’t appear to be a clear strategy, let alone any clear progress on the stadium issue. Only last week we had Zaki pouring water on the increased optimistic speculation from the supporters, saying things like the different options are still being discussed etc I know investors are prepared to play a waiting game with this sort of thing but surely there has to be news from the club soon on which way they’re planning to go. I personally don’t have a preferred option as long as it breaks the status quo and allows the club to grow??

 

[Manorlounger]

We’re now nearly at the second anniversary of Tiger taking over and, unless they are hiding it very well, there still doesn’t appear to be a clear strategy, let alone any clear progress on the stadium issue. Only last week we had Zaki pouring water on the increased optimistic speculation from the supporters, saying things like the different options are still being discussed etc I know investors are prepared to play a waiting game with this sort of thing but surely there has to be news from the club soon on which way they’re planning to go. I personally don’t have a preferred option as long as it breaks the status quo and allows the club to grow??

There doesn't have to be any public announcement from the club anytime soon. If I was in their shoes I would be saying nothing until the deal was done. Contracts signed, finance in place and all parties involved ready to sing from one song sheet.
Business transactions are not conducted with an audience and an eye to audience reaction.

 

[Sheik djibouti]

But the 'investors' have a history of property development. They are not particularly interested in the club - they are not going to spend that type of money without a return.

You said it. The predicted return must be worth it, or they might just jump ship if it looks like too much effort. Of course, Championship football may well make the prospect that bit more tantalising for all parties concerned....ups the ante quite considerably I would imagine!