Sky Blues stadium shop to boost finances - expert

Coventry City FC's plan to bring its flagship store to its stadium will give the team a financial boost, a football finance expert has said.

With the Sky Blues preparing for life in the Premier League, the club unveiled its "most ambitious fan experience investment", which sees its shop moving from the city centre and into the Coventry Building Society Arena.

The West Orchards city centre store will permanently close at the end of June, with The Cov Store set to open in July.

"In the new cost-controlled environment every £100 that Coventry City FC generates, it can spend £85 on player costs, " Kieran Maguire, a football finance expert from Liverpool University told BBC CWR.

He added: "The club is looking to broaden and extend all of the different ways of generating money.

"If you go somewhere like Spurs, since they moved to their new stadium, fans are spending on average an extra 40 to 50 minutes on match days and that includes the mega store. You're not watching the grass grow when you're there, you're spending money and that's very much the direction of travel.

"You get into this mentality that because it's connected to the stadium you feel that you are supporting the club financially when you're there. The research indicates that encourages people to spend even more money."

As a nod to the city's motoring heritage, the retail store opening will also see the launch of two dedicated areas: The Drive Experience with racing simulators and a social fan experience, as well as The Story, a re-programmable exhibition.

The club's 26-27 Premier League home kit will also be unveiled to mark its return to the top flight.

The new squad cost ratio (SCR) system will come into play next season meaning top-flight clubs teams can spend 85% of their income on player costs.

Uefa's SCR spending limit is 70%, which all clubs in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League must adhere to.

Maguire added: "Coventry City FC will be in a very strong position from now because the rules were geared against clubs that have just been promoted from the Championship to the Premier League historically and then these changes to the rules will benefit Cov.

"It will make the Premier League a slightly more level playing field.

"It'll be a really tough season, it always is for clubs that have just been promoted. They say anything above 17th position is a fantastic success because it's a tough division."

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