Sport & stadium
Financing Your Stadium Upgrade
Stadium capital projects rarely fit a single finance line. This guide is written for club CEOs, commercial directors and heads of operations who need to structure a multi-strand upgrade — often across two or three seasons — without draining matchday cash flow or breaching covenants on existing borrowing.
Chapters written from real deals.
Every chapter is drawn from work we've done with UK businesses — anonymised, but the numbers, structures and outcomes are real.
The six categories of stadium capex
Floodlights and grow lighting, LED screens and perimeter boards, audio and PA, matchday IT and turnstiles, pitch and grounds machinery, hospitality fit-out. We set out typical spend bands, useful economic life and the finance structure that fits each.
Worked example: £420k LED floodlight upgrade
A National League club replacing metal-halide floodlights with a broadcast-spec LED scheme. Full costings, six-year finance lease treatment, energy saving offset, and the season-weighted payment schedule we structured to protect summer cash flow.
Season-weighted payments
How we structure payments to lean into ticketing and hospitality cycles for EFL, National League and semi-professional clubs. Includes a template schedule that most lenders will accept without a covenant amendment.
Refinance: releasing capital for the next project
Most clubs sit on £150k–£500k of paid-down grounds and matchday equipment. We show how refinancing that pool has funded pitch reconstructions, hybrid pitch systems and academy facilities without a fresh capital call.
What lenders look for from a club
Financial covenants, EFL and FA disclosures, and how to package a capital paper that gets through committee first time.
Written for the people making the decision.
- 01Club CEOs, CFOs and commercial directors
- 02Heads of grounds and stadium operations
- 03County boards and national governing bodies
What you'll walk away with.
- 01The six categories we finance, with typical spend and terms
- 02Worked example: £420k LED floodlight scheme on a 6-year finance lease
- 03Season-weighted payments for National League and EFL clubs
- 04Refinance strategies to release capital for the next pitch project
Other guides you might find useful.
Want a version tailored to your project?
We produce bespoke finance summaries for capital projects — costings, structure options and tax treatment on one document. No obligation.