Everton pushes for more concerts at Hill Dickinson
The club wants to double the number of full-capacity live music events and other shows at the £500m stadium in a bid to increase revenues.
At present, Everton FC is only allowed to use the 53,000-seater Hill Dickinson Stadium to host a maximum of four non-football events per year.
The club is seeking to up this to eight in response to “great interest from promoters”. Everton also wants to tweak the wording of the planning condition that governs extracurricular activities to say “non-sporting” rather than “non-football”.
Being able to host only four full capacity events a year on top of the Toffees’ home fixtures is “resulting in a loss of potential added value to Liverpool and the wider city region in terms of visitor numbers, expenditure and job creation”, according to a planning statement prepared by CBRE.
Rivals Liverpool FC can host six non-sporting events a year but cannot stage any during July as a measure aimed at giving residents’ respite from large events. Tis rule, the club claimed earlier this year, led to the club missing out on securing a gig from a major global act.
Non-football related revenue generated by clubs can have a significant impact on how adventurous a club can be in the transfer market.
Under the Premier League’s newly implemented squad cost ratio rules – which have replaced profit and sustainability rules – clubs can spend up to 85% of their total revenues on its playing squad.
Tottenham Hotspur secured consent in 2024 to up the number of non-football events its stadium can host per year from 16 to 30. During this summer’s transfer window, the club has spent around £240m on transfers. Everton and Liverpool have spent a combined £175m.
