- Everton’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock is expected to open next year
- However, the cost of the state-of-the-art venue has risen by a significant amount
- Why Steve Cooper’s sacking at Forest could have a domino effect in the Premier League – It’s All Kicking Off
The price of Everton‘s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock is set to rise by up to £150million due to increased construction costs directly attributable to the war in Ukraine.
Mail Sport revealed earlier this year that the so-called fixed-price contract Everton had agreed with builders Laing O’Rourke contained variable rates with a floor and ceiling price for completing the project, a significant variable which has already cost the club £100m.
The final price will not be known until the build is completed in a year’s time, but Everton are budgeting for a worst-case scenario of another £50m hit, taking the cost of the stadium beyond £700m and 20 per cent above the floor price agreed with Laing.
The huge increase is largely down to the increased cost of materials, logistics and higher interest rates.
Everton’s new state-of-the-art stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock is expected to open next year
It is set to cost £150million more than was planned due to increased construction costs
Boehly takes a step back
Todd Boehly’s long absences from Chelsea this season have been noted by players and staff.
The co-owner attended last weekend’s Premier League win over Brighton at Stamford Bridge, but was not at Wednesday’s defeat by Manchester United and has only been at a handful of home games all season.
Sources close to Boehly insist that he always intended to step back to focus on other business interests, after acting as de facto sporting director for much of last season, and that his enthusiasm for Chelsea is undimmed.
In his absence co-owner Behdad Eghbali, who manages the 60 per cent stake in the club owned by Clearlake Capital, has taken an increasingly hands-on role.
Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has taken a pre-planned step back at Chelsea this season
Sky strengthen grip with near-live rights
Sky Sports are expected to win the near-live Premier League rights for all 380 games in the next stage of the auction process, having agreed to pay £5.1billion for 215 live matches each season between 2025 and 2029 earlier this week.
The live deal gives Sky the right to show highlights of the 215 games they own, but they must pay extra for access to TNT Sports’ package of 52 games and the other 113 top-flight matches that will not be broadcast live.
While the Premier League are running a formal tender for near-live rights, with short clips made available after 5.15pm on Saturdays followed by a more extensive highlights programme at 8pm, Sky are set to emerge triumphant.
They picked up four of the five Premier League live packages, but had to withstand a strong rival bid from TNT to keep the 5.30pm Saturday slot.
Former United executive is FA’s new digital guru
The FA have appointed former Manchester United executive James Gray as their new commercial director, with the governing body making digital growth a key priority.
Gray joins the FA from Barclays, where he has spent four years running the bank’s digital platforms, having previously been head of mobile at United as well as working for Disney and serving as managing director of Amazon’s App store.
