Todd Boehly has been urged to expand Stamford Bridge to ensure that the club aren't left behind. Since 2003, when Roman Abramovich took over the club, the Premier League's top sides have all moved ground or renovated with the exception of Manchester United.
The 44,000 capacity at SW6 is nothing to be sniffed at, plus the historic feel of the ground has created a connection for the fans, but from a business perspective it is not viable. Boehly and his fellow co-owners have ambitions to make the Blues a £1bn revenue and that will need major adaptions to the current stadium.
It has been in the pipeline for over a decade with Abramovich making moves on several occassions to relocate the club's home ground or explore options of redevelopment but nothing is yet to happen. With Tottenham completing a move to their new ground in 2019, Liverpool renovating Anfield, Manchester City doing the same at the Etihad Stadium and more across the country, the attention is now on Boehly/Clearlake.
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Chelsea want to be pioneers in the marketing and commercial front, tapping into new areas of finance that the American businessmen owners believe can transform the club's performance on the pitch over time. To do that they need to make a move growing Stamford Bridge.
Speaking to Genting Casino, former defender William Gallas sees it as a neccessity if they are to keep up with the competition. "If they can expand the stadium to 60,000, the stadium will be full every game," he said. "They have to do it because every big Premier League club has that capacity as a minimum."
Stamford Bridge, which has been the club's stadium throughout its 118-year history, is only the ninth biggest in the league and is even smaller than Championship outfit Sunderland's Stadium of Light, too. "If they can do it, they have to do it," continued Gallas. "It may be difficult to do, but they have to try under the new owner.
"When I joined Chelsea it was in 2001, it was from Marseille and the capacity was a bit similar. But the atmosphere was completely different because the fans were so close to the players, so it felt very different. As a player, you see things completely differently, it is like you can hear everything they are saying to you - good and bad!"
With Chelsea penned in by the nearby underground stations and land that they do not own, the next path is unclear as potential complete destruction of the site is brought up in order to rebuild the famous old ground. The aim would be to create a new, modern stadium that can compete on multiple fronts with that of Chelsea's rivals.
When looking at how Boehly's other sports franchise, MLB side LA Dodgers, work it is noticeable that the Dodger Stadium is an almost perfect example of where Chelsea want to get to. It was soon after Boehly and his group in America took over there that stadium developments happened with it currently hosting 56,000 fans.
On a base level, if Chelsea increased their capacity by 12,000, at a cost of £50 per ticket on average, throughout the season they would earn nearly £12m extra and that is without additional hospitality purchases, European or cup matches and the price of suits either.
With these factors included, plus the overall appeal of having a stadium that ranks as up there with the best in the country and continent, it is clear to see why there is such a clamour to make this happen.
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