We are in it for long haul,Wagner tells hopeful fans
TOM Wagner gave a Wolf of Wall Street-type speech at this week’s Open House event to double down on his Birmingham City ambitions and rubbish suggestions Knighthead aren’t in it for the long haul.
American firm Knighthead have invested millions since purchasing a controlling stake in an ailing football club and have now pledged ‘two to three billion pounds’ to build a Sports Quarter. Wagner and his cohorts have been met with scepticism and cynicism in some quarters but they insist they have no intention of walking away.
A 10-year plan has been talked about and the Sports Quarter, which will be situated within walking distance of Birmingham city centre, will increase Blues’ revenue streams tenfold. Wagner hopes it will stop questions over Knighthead’s commitment to Blues.
“This question has been asked a number of times, I don’t know what we can say beyond we’re going to spend two to three billion dollars on a new stadium, we’re not going anywhere,” he stated. “We’re not leaving.
“I don’t care how many Villa fans are the first ones to comment on a social post, they are not going to convince us we’re doing the wrong thing, it’s never going to happen. We’re never going to let somebody tell us we’re crazy, we shouldn’t do that, or it’s the wrong time. That’s b ******* .
“We’ve got a plan and the plans existed before we bought the club, and we’re going to stick to it. Don’t listen to the doubters and haters. A lot of those people are rooting against us.”
And Wagner has promised not to hike ticket prices when Birmingham City eventually move to their new stadium. “What we want to do is borrow ideas from the very best stadiums that we have seen around the world and lessons learned from other projects of a similar scope and scale, so that what we have is a venue where people want to spend time,” the American told Blues TV.
“They want to go well ahead of the match, they want to stay after the match, they want this to be somewhere they can spend a full day.
“That’s the goal. Our supporters should come away saying, ‘That was a great use of my time, I got great value for money.’”
Supporters will be wondering whether Knighthead plan to hike ticket prices to recoup some of the ‘two to three billion pounds’ it will take to build the Sports Quarter.
“For us it’s not about driving ticket prices up,” added Wagner. “That’s not the way that you develop revenue. If you look at the best clubs in the world ticket prices are not a giant component of their overall revenue.”