SUCCESS on the pitch for Bolton Wanderers this season has been mirrored by the club’s commercial performance, says chief executive Neil Hart.
24,238 people attended the team’s home game against Blackpool on Saturday, which is the fourth-highest gate the team has ever achieved at this level of football.
For those who were present, the Remembrance Day pre-match service was particularly moving, made more so by the eye-catching visual of poppies raining down from the new LED screens and the ribbons that now encircle the stadium.
It was the first meaningful test of the new technology’s visual capabilities, but it will take some months before the true worth of a big investment is realised.
Hart predicts that in the end, the difference will be up to “ten times” what the club was able to produce with their former equipment, while he already feels that the LED ribbons have enhanced commercial yields by “three or four” times. Although Bolton earned only £100,000 in revenue the previous year, it is anticipated that they will earn over £1 million when the existing system reaches its maximum capacity.
In the near future, two more corner screens will be installed. Each screen will have more branding surrounding it to conceal the bare metal in each corner of the stands, which has remained the same since 1997.
The stadium is now beginning to pay for itself in every inch. Moreover, the club is optimistic about how soon the £4.5 million bond programme, which was introduced last summer, will be returned, even if a sizable portion of the expenditure has come from that fund.
The Bolton News was informed by Hart that “this has been a seismic shift for the club.” We also know that it was a really audacious move. We needed to be certain about the funding and operation of that procedure.
