Reports have claimed that Chelsea have been offered the opportunity to play their home games at a world-renowned stadium as they seek drastic Stamford Bridge improvements.
It has been claimed the Blues have been handed the opportunity to play their games at Twickenham Stadium, home of the England Rugby team and able to seat as many as 82,000 fans.
The figure is near enough double that of Stamford Bridge’s capacity, with Chelsea’s home attendance being an outcast amongst their fellow elite Premier League sides.
The new owners at the club have been in disagreement over what is the next best step for home games. Todd Boehly has previously hinted at building a brand new stadium, although faces challenges given Chelsea’s location in the country.
Money has been set aside by Boehly and Behdad Eghbali to facilitate vast improvements to their home stadium, however the disagreement between both parties is threatening to cost the club in the long run.
Chelsea could move to Allianz Stadium and unlock £1.75bn fund
Finance expert Adam Williams exclusively told The Chelsea Chronicle that the Blues have the chance to unlock a fund as high as £1.75bn to work on a new stadium if they take the plunge to play at Twickenham in the meantime, also known as the Allianz stadium.
He said: “Chelsea are earning less than the other big six clubs in matchday income but they are also earning the most money per fan. Because they have the smallest stadium.
“Twickenham is 82,000 so on face value it’s going to earn more But they’d have to pay a rental fee. I think Spurs’ at Wembley was £15m per seasonI imagine it might be a bit more at Twickenham because it’s not necessarily built for football specifications.
“Spurs’ matchday income increased in the interim period but it was offset by costs. They might have been up on the deal slightly but there probably wasn’t much in it.
“As far as the business is concerned, Chelsea need to either increase capacity at Stamford Bridge or do the move to Earl’s Court to be competitive in the long term I would say. PSR will catch up with them eventually when they run out of levers to pull.
“Plus the US owners are all about extracting maximum cash from the matchday experience. More emphasis on hospitality, premium seating, bars and shops around the stadium etc. I think they see that as pretty central to the investment to make it pay off in the long run.
“BlueCo ringfence £1.75bn for infrastructure developments as part of the takeover, so the money is already there. It’s just logistics – and it sounds like internal politics between Boehly and Eghbali about which course they choose to take. Eghbali wants to stay at expanded Stamford Bridge and Boehly favours a new site.”
Potential new name for new Stamford Bridge
As seen when West Ham and Tottenham moved stadiums in recent memory, neither side maintained the iconic name their original stadiums held.
Top sides are continuing to see their stadium’s named alongside top sponsors. Barcelona’s Nou Camp has seen Spotify added to it’s name.
The same could occur with Chelsea. A report from the Mail back in 2023 stated that Allianz were keen on adding Stamford Bridge to their list of stadiums.
As well as Twickenham, the German company have the naming rights to Bayern Munich and Juventus’ stadiums, and could still be interested in a new-look Stamford Bridge.
