Assets · 56 practices
Real Estate & Venue
The stadium can earn on the days there is no match: events, conferences, courts and tours.
- 01
Secure long-term tenure
Negotiate a 10–25 year concession; nothing else is financeable without it.
Impact high · effort high
How to do it
- Gather your current agreement, its remaining term and every clause on renewal, so you know exactly what the club holds today.
- List the investments, tenants and naming deals you cannot close without longer tenure, and attach a rough value to each.
- Ask the owner of the ground for a first meeting, bringing a short paper that links a longer term to public benefit and club investment.
- Agree who leads the negotiation, who advises on legal terms, and a fixed review date for each stage of talks.
- Track progress by whether the term, break clauses and permitted uses are agreed in writing, and review the status at every board meeting.
- 02
Audit every space and its permitted uses
Map rooms, pitch slots and outdoor areas against what the agreement allows.
Impact high · effort low
How to do it
- Collect the ground agreement, licences and floor plans, and list every room, pitch, outdoor area and car park in one sheet.
- Mark for each space what the agreement permits, such as events, hospitality, retail or sport, and what needs the owner's consent.
- Note beside each space which days and hours it is empty, using last season's booking diary or a quick walk-round.
- Rank the empty spaces by how easily they can be let and share the top few with the board.
- Repeat the audit each season and compare it with last time to see which spaces are now earning.
- 03
Publish a venue rate card
Listed prices for pitch, rooms and packages, enquiries convert when prices are visible.
Impact high · effort low
How to do it
- Choose the three spaces or packages you most want to sell, such as a pitch slot, a meeting room and a function hall.
- Work out the cost of opening each one for a day, including staff, cleaning and utilities, so every price covers it.
- Set a price per hour or half day, say what is included, and list any extras and cancellation terms.
- Publish the rate card on your website and send the same sheet to every enquiry, so no one has to ask for a price.
- Review the card each season, counting enquiries received, enquiries booked and which items nobody asks for.
- 04
Give the venue one booking owner
A named person answering enquiries within 24 hours, with a calendar and a target.
Impact high · effort low
How to do it
- Name one person as booking owner and write down what they decide alone and what they must escalate.
- Set up one shared calendar and one enquiry inbox so that every request lands in the same place.
- Agree a reply deadline of one working day and send a standard answer with the rate card attached.
- Give the owner a booking target for the season and make time for site visits in their weekly diary.
- Check each month how fast enquiries were answered and how many became bookings, and coach from the gaps.
- 05
Run a separate venue P&L
Revenue and cost per event day, reported monthly, the venue becomes a business unit.
Impact high · effort low
How to do it
- List every income and cost line that belongs to the venue, separate from matchday and sponsorship, in a simple sheet.
- Record each event day with its revenue, direct costs and a fair share of staff and utilities.
- Agree with your finance lead how shared costs are split, and write the rule down so it stays the same.
- Report the venue result to the board every month in the same layout, with the best and worst event types highlighted.
- Use the report to decide which event types to promote or drop, and check the next month whether that changed anything.
- 06
Land 2–3 recurring tenants
Café, gym, physio, offices or padel, contracted annual income beats one-off events.
Impact high · effort medium
How to do it
- List the kinds of tenant your spaces suit, such as a cafe, gym, physio, offices or padel, and match each to a space.
- Check your agreement for permitted uses, and ask the owner for consent before approaching anyone.
- Approach local operators with a one-page offer describing the space, footfall, term and what you expect.
- Agree heads of terms covering rent, length, fit-out, insurance and exit, and ask a lawyer to draft the contract.
- Judge success by contracted annual income against the venue's fixed costs, and review tenant satisfaction every quarter.
- 07
Package corporate events
Meetings, presentations and functions with set menus and AV, sold, not improvised.
Impact high · effort medium
How to do it
- Pick two or three corporate formats you can deliver well, such as a meeting, a presentation or a lunch function.
- For each format, write what is included: room, seating, screen and sound, catering and a named host.
- Agree menus and prices with your caterer, then set a price per guest that covers all costs.
- Photograph the room set up for each format and put the packages on a one-page brochure.
- Send the brochure to your sponsors and local businesses, then track enquiries, bookings and guest feedback each quarter.
- 08
Commission an energy audit
LED, controls and solar feasibility; energy is the biggest controllable cost line.
Impact high · effort medium
How to do it
- Collect twelve months of energy bills for each meter and note which areas use the most, such as floodlights and heating.
- Ask two or three qualified energy auditors for quotes, giving them the same brief covering lighting, controls and solar.
- Choose one auditor and walk them round the whole site, including the plant rooms and pitch lighting.
- Rank the recommendations by cost and payback, and ask whether grants or supplier pilots could fund the first ones.
- Start with the quickest wins, then compare monthly bills with the same month last year to confirm the savings.
- 09
Agree a capex plan with the municipality
A shared 5-year investment plan unlocks public co-funding and protects tenure.
Impact high · effort high
How to do it
- Draw up a list of the club's investment needs for the next five years, with a rough cost and reason for each.
- Show how each item serves the public, such as youth sport, community use or a better local facility.
- Ask the municipality's sport or property officer for a meeting and share the draft plan before asking for money.
- Agree who pays for what and when, and set the plan down in a document both sides sign.
- Review the plan every year with the council, noting which items were delivered and which funding was confirmed.
- 10
Explore mixed-use development around the stadium site
Test whether retail, hospitality, residential and leisure uses on club-controlled land beside the stadium could run all year.
Impact high · effort high
- 11
Explore a ground-share with a neighbouring club
Open talks with a nearby club about sharing one stadium to split running and investment costs.
Impact high · effort high
- 12
Bid to host visiting-sport fixtures in the stadium
Approach other sports bodies about staging their fixtures in the stadium, with a pitch recovery plan.
Impact high · effort high
- 13
Sell personal seat licences to fund stadium upgrades
Offer long-term seat rights for a one-off fee and use the proceeds to pay for stadium works instead of debt.
Impact high · effort high
- 14
Open the clubhouse on non-matchdays
A café/bar open weekdays turns the venue into a neighbourhood destination.
Impact medium · effort medium
How to do it
- Choose the weekdays and hours when a cafe or bar could realistically open, based on local footfall and staff you have.
- Check your licence, insurance and the terms of your agreement allow opening outside matchdays.
- Start with a short pilot, such as two mornings a week, run by existing staff or volunteers.
- Promote it to local residents, schools and nearby businesses with signs at the entrance and posts on your channels.
- After a few weeks compare takings with staffing and running costs, then widen or stop the hours accordingly.
- 15
Build a pitch rental schedule
Training slots, tournaments and corporate matches booked around first-team needs.
Impact medium · effort low
How to do it
- List the pitches and training areas and record when the first team, academy and youth sides need them each week.
- Mark the free slots, then decide which are suitable for hire without harming the playing surface.
- Set a price for each slot type and a simple booking process with terms covering cancellation and damage.
- Offer the slots to local clubs, schools and companies, and keep one shared calendar visible to coaches and groundstaff.
- Review monthly how many slots were sold, which customers returned and whether the first team lost any training time.
- 16
Run holiday camps and academies
School-holiday programming fills daytime capacity and feeds the fan database.
Impact medium · effort medium
How to do it
- Pick the school holidays in which you can run a camp and choose a venue area and age groups.
- Recruit qualified coaches, check safeguarding and first aid cover, and agree staff ratios with your safeguarding lead.
- Set a price per day or week, with sibling and local-school options, and open booking on your website.
- Collect consented contact details from every family at booking, so you can invite them to matches and future camps.
- Afterwards send a short parent survey and compare places filled, repeat bookings and new contacts added with last time.
- 17
Formalise community programming
Scheduled school and local-club hours, documented for concession negotiations.
Impact medium · effort low
How to do it
- List every school, local club and community group that already uses your facilities and when they come.
- Record the hours, the groups and the benefit to each in a simple register, updated monthly.
- Agree written terms with the regular users covering days, hours, contribution and safeguarding.
- Gather short quotes and photos from users, with permission, to show the value of the programme.
- Summarise the register every quarter into a short report you can hand to the owner or funders when they ask.
- 18
Sell naming rights on venue spaces
Stands, function rooms and the training pitch as long-term sponsor assets.
Impact medium · effort medium
How to do it
- Choose the spaces that people see most, such as a stand, a function room or the training pitch, and list them.
- Check your agreement and the owner's consent for naming any part of the ground.
- Write a one-page offer for each space describing visibility, length of deal and what the sponsor receives.
- Approach your current sponsors first, then local businesses with a link to the ground, and agree term and price.
- Track whether the naming is renewed or extended, and whether sponsors use the name in their own communication.
- 19
List the venue on hire marketplaces
Event, filming and sports-booking platforms bring demand you don't have to source.
Impact medium · effort low
How to do it
- Choose two or three hire marketplaces that suit your spaces, such as event, filming or sports-booking sites.
- Prepare good photographs, a clear description, capacity, rules and your rate card for each listing.
- Create the listings and set the availability to match your shared calendar, so no one is double booked.
- Answer every marketplace enquiry within one working day using your standard reply.
- Review each platform every quarter by bookings, revenue and fees, and drop the ones that do not pay.
- 20
Write an event-day operations playbook
Staffing, setup, safety and handover checklists so any event runs without heroics.
Impact medium · effort low
How to do it
- Walk through a recent event from first setup to final lock-up and write down every task and who did it.
- Turn the tasks into checklists for staffing, setup, safety, catering and handover, each with an owner and a time.
- Add emergency contacts, evacuation steps, key holders and supplier details on the first page.
- Print the playbook, hand it to the duty manager before each event and hold a brief debrief afterwards.
- Update the checklists after every event with what went wrong, and check that a new staff member can run one using only the document.
- 21
Verify licensing and insurance for events
Alcohol, music, capacity and liability cover confirmed before selling event types.
Impact medium · effort low
How to do it
- List the event types you want to sell, such as weddings, concerts, bars and corporate functions.
- For each, note the licence needed, such as alcohol, music or capacity, and who holds it today.
- Ask your insurer in writing which events and capacities your cover includes, and what extra cover is available.
- Apply for missing licences and cover well before you advertise the event type.
- Keep a dated register of licences and policies with renewal reminders, and review it before each new event type goes on sale.
- 22
Monetise the matchday footprint
Fan zone, food trucks and pre-match hospitality around, not just inside, the stadium.
Impact medium · effort medium
How to do it
- Walk the streets around the ground on a matchday and note where fans gather, queue and spend before and after kick-off.
- Choose one or two simple additions, such as a food stall area or a fan zone, and check permits with the municipality.
- Invite local vendors and sponsors to take pitches, agreeing a fee or revenue share and basic rules.
- Promote the zone in match communications so fans know when it opens and what is on.
- Compare spend per fan, vendor feedback and fan comments over several matches to decide whether to grow or change it.
- 23
Assess concerts and cultural events
Check pitch protection, noise limits and capacity before chasing large one-offs.
Impact medium · effort high
How to do it
- List the concert or cultural events you could host and what each would need from the ground.
- Ask your groundstaff for a written view on the risk to the pitch and the recovery time needed.
- Check noise limits, capacity, transport and neighbour impact with the municipality and your insurer.
- Estimate full costs, including staff, security, pitch repair and cleaning, against the likely income.
- Go ahead only if the numbers and the risks are acceptable, and afterwards compare the real result with the forecast.
- 24
Protect pitch quality with a maintenance calendar
Usage caps and renovation windows so rentals never cost you the playing surface.
Impact medium · effort low
How to do it
- Ask the head groundsman to write down how much play the surface can take in each season.
- Turn that into a usage calendar showing which weeks are open for hire, limited, or closed for renovation.
- Share the calendar with coaches and the booking owner, and make it the rule when accepting any rental.
- Add clauses to hire contracts covering conditions of use, damage and the right to cancel in poor weather.
- Inspect the surface after each hire and review the log every quarter to see whether limits need changing.
- 25
Test demand for office and medical space near the stadium
Survey local employers and health providers about renting space on club land beside the stadium before committing capital.
Impact medium · effort high
- 26
Write a scheduling framework before sharing the venue
Agree in writing who gets pitch time, maintenance windows and access for commercial or media events with any second tenant.
Impact medium · effort medium
- 27
Cost stadium changeovers before renting to a second tenant
Price the redressing between tenants and agree how non-football income is split before signing any ground-share.
Impact medium · effort medium
- 28
Run stadium tours on non-matchdays
Sell guided tours of the stadium and club spaces on days without a match.
Impact medium · effort low
- 29
Convert spare stadium rooms into a co-working hub
Rent desks and meeting rooms in unused stadium space to local freelancers and small firms.
Impact medium · effort medium
- 30
Phase seating expansion to protect the atmosphere
Stage any seating or hospitality expansion in steps and test its effect on atmosphere before the next phase.
Impact medium · effort high
- 31
Track use of matchday amenities at every home game
Log footfall and sales at each food, retail and hospitality point to find amenities that sit idle.
Impact medium · effort low
- 32
Remodel spare training ground space for non-football uses
Adapt unused areas of the stadium or training ground for paying non-football activities, and give the line time to pay back.
Impact medium · effort medium
- 33
Compare stadium capacity with real demand
Check average attendance against capacity and decide whether to close or repurpose stands that rarely fill.
Impact medium · effort low
- 34
Specify modular capacity when building or extending a stadium
Design stands so capacity can be reduced after peak events and the venue stays useful for community sport.
Impact medium · effort high
- 35
Let fans book parking and transit before matchday
Add parking and transport booking to the ticket journey so arrival queues shrink.
Impact medium · effort medium
- 36
Move venue payments to cashless
Accept only cards, mobile payment or loaded-value cards at kiosks and shops to speed service and simplify operations.
Impact medium · effort medium
- 37
Add self-ordering and express lines at concessions
Offer self-order points, express lanes or in-seat delivery so fans buy food and drink with less waiting.
Impact medium · effort medium
- 38
Track concession walk-aways caused by queues
Count abandoned queues and set a wait-time target at each stand to win back lost food and drink sales.
Impact medium · effort low
- 39
Add match-day attractions that keep fans in the venue longer
Create entertainment and easier access to seats, food and merchandise so fans arrive early and stay after the whistle.
Impact medium · effort medium
- 40
Coordinate matchday access with transit and parking operators
Work with transport and parking operators and police on arrival and exit flows around the stadium.
Impact medium · effort medium
- 41
Build a fan zone beside the stadium
Create a fan zone with food, shops and activations on club-owned space outside the stands.
Impact medium · effort medium
- 42
Play women's home matches at the main stadium
Schedule women's team fixtures at the main ground where possible to lift attendance.
Impact medium · effort low
- 43
Plan venue upgrades for multi-purpose use from the start
Build the technology and layout for concerts and other events into any redevelopment brief.
Impact medium · effort high
- 44
Include retail and dining space in stadium redevelopment plans
Design retail, dining and entertainment space into any rebuild so the venue earns year-round.
Impact medium · effort high
- 45
Offer pop-up retail space near the stadium to brands
Rent fan-zone or forecourt space to brands for pop-up stores and events.
Impact medium · effort low
- 46
Host youth tournaments and pitch them to local hotels
Run youth tournaments at the training ground and tell local hotels about the room demand they bring.
Impact medium · effort medium
- 47
Ask the local tourism board to back venue events
Approach the destination marketing body for grants, cash sponsorship and marketing help for events you host.
Impact medium · effort low
- 48
Offer the venue as a filming location
Photo shoots and filming pay well and need nothing but access and an invoice.
Impact low · effort low
How to do it
- Photograph the most striking parts of the ground, such as the tunnel, stands, dressing rooms and pitch, in good light.
- Set a day rate and an hourly rate, and write simple terms covering access, insurance, crew size and damage.
- Register the location with local film offices, photographers and agencies, and send them the photos.
- Assign one person to handle requests, make site visits and supervise each shoot.
- Track enquiries, shoot days and income each season, and keep a record of which clients come back.
- 49
Plan accessibility upgrades
Step-free routes and accessible facilities widen bookings and strengthen public funding cases.
Impact low · effort medium
How to do it
- Commission a simple access review, ideally with a local disability group, covering routes, parking, toilets, viewing areas and entrances.
- List the barriers found and sort them into quick fixes, planned works and larger investments.
- Fix the quick wins first, such as signs, ramps and door widths, and add the rest to your capex plan.
- Use the review in funding applications and tell groups and event organisers what the venue now offers.
- Check progress each season by items completed, and ask disabled visitors for feedback on what has improved.
- 50
Improve non-matchday signage
Visitors and event guests should find entrances, rooms and parking unaided.
Impact low · effort low
How to do it
- Walk the site as a first-time visitor, from the car park to each room, noting every point where you would hesitate.
- List the signs needed, covering entrances, car parks, toilets, meeting rooms and emergency exits.
- Get quotes for clear, consistent signs in the club's style, and check whether the owner's consent is needed.
- Install the signs and include the same directions in booking confirmations and on the website.
- Ask event guests how easy it was to find their way, and look at whether staff are still being asked for directions.
- 51
Keep a council and neighbour cadence
Quarterly touchpoints with the municipality and residents pre-empt objections to growth.
Impact low · effort low
How to do it
- List the people to meet, such as the relevant council officers, local councillors, neighbour groups and the police liaison.
- Put four meetings or calls in the diary for the year, with a named club lead for each contact.
- Prepare a short update each time covering what is happening, what is planned and what you need from them.
- Invite neighbours to hear about big events early and give them a contact for noise or parking concerns.
- Keep a log of issues raised and how they were settled, and review it each quarter to see whether complaints are falling.
- 52
Report venue utilisation annually
Event days, revenue per day and community hours in one board-level report.
Impact low · effort low
How to do it
- Decide with the board which measures belong in the report, such as event days, revenue per event day and community hours.
- Collect the data monthly from the booking calendar, venue accounts and community register.
- Put it into a single short report in the same layout every year, comparing with the year before.
- Add a few lines on what you learned and what you will change, and present it at a board meeting.
- Use the report to set next year's targets, and check each year that the numbers still match the accounts.
- 53
Use adaptive lighting and digital branding for shared tenants
Switch stadium lighting and screens between club identities so each tenant keeps its own look in a shared ground.
Impact low · effort medium
- 54
Host a social run club starting at the stadium
Start a weekly community run from the stadium and invite a sporting-goods sponsor to co-host.
Impact low · effort low
- 55
Host school field trips at the stadium
Run structured school visits to the stadium with a player appearance.
Impact low · effort low
- 56
Track room nights per participant for hosted tournaments
Record how many hotel nights each tournament participant books to prove the event's value to partners.
Impact low · effort medium