Stadium Relocation Case Study

I was retained by Wasps in 2013 to find a new home for the club. Their previous stadium was shared with a football club and did not provide the quality of facilities expected of a top European Rugby Club. I identified a number of sites in the South East and worked up business plans. However, the lead time on each of the schemes was significant: between 5 and 7 years. Having previously worked on the Ricoh Arena, I knew that the football club had moved away and the stadium was without a tenant. I made the initial approach to the stadium shareholders and eventually helped the club purchase the stadium.

The key issue was that the stadium was a long way from their traditional catchment so I assited in developing a transition plan which involved bringing along existing fans as well as developing a new local fan base. I project managed the move from the old to the new stadium and developed a programme of events for the first 10 matches at the stadium. Wasps' first match at the Ricoh as their home ground attracted over 28,000 spectators.

Having established Wasps in Coventry, I then worked on moving the training centre from West London to Coventry. In order to get the squad into the city quickly I developed a temporary training centre at Broadstreet Rugby Club including the installation of 8,000 sq ft of temporary facilities including briefing room, gym, physio treatment area, laundry and offices. I also assisted on the design and construction of a new £7 million elite training centre. I assisted the Club with a new strategy for the conference and exhibition business. The Club was badly impacted by the outbreak of Covid 19 and I then assisted them with revised business planning and help with trying to secure new investment or operating partners.