Plans for a Rangers sports bar within the Ibrox Stadium footprint stalled over the summer but the project has not been scrapped.
Chief commercial officer Karim Virani explained the state of play on the plans for the G51 Sports Bar at the Rangers AGM on Thursday.
Rangers chiefs are still working on opening the venue in the future but admitted the ambitions to open in early 2024 stalled due to the Copland Stand building issues and a change of food and beverage partner.
A club statement in July 2023 had unveiled plans for the G51 Sports Bar to open at the former Rangers Store location with doors to open in "early 2024".
The venue was said to have an indicative capacity of 500 with the bar to be open on a match day and fully operational five days per week.
However, the bar has not yet opened prompting a question at the club AGM regarding what has happened in the time since.
Virani explained work is ongoing on the plans for the sports bar with discussions underway with new catering company Elior over how to proceed.
He stated fans will be involved in consultations over the project before it is opened with an update on the project set to be provided in the "coming weeks, maybe months".
No timeframe was provided over when the sports bar would open - but Virani cleared up fears over trademark or IP issues.
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He said: "Thank you for the question. Quite simply, obviously the sports bar project was announced and the original plan was, yes, for it to be open by now.
"Simply, the situation we found ourselves in the summer drove a real focus, in terms of investment, resource and sheer boots on the ground to obviously deliver the Copland as quick as possible.
"So, we did put that [sports bar] to a side for the moment.
"What also happened over the summer was we changed our catering partner, our food and beverage partner, obviously back with Elior again and grateful for their support.
"The sports bar proposition, for me, it was very important we had a very, very clear business plan on how we are going to deliver a great proposition, great product for our fans on matchdays and potentially other, that also had a clear plan on how it is going to contribute to additional investment coming into the club to help Nils and Philippe.
"To do that, we have to do that with our partner Elior. That delay obviously created that moment where we changed and we are working right now on that plan with them to ensure we deliver something that fans love and also delivers great value for the club.
"There is no issue in regards to trademark or IP. It was a decision wholly made by ourselves for the right reasons that we stand by.
"I hope in the coming weeks, maybe perhaps months, that we can give a really detailed update on the sports bar, what it looks like, what our plans are.
"But I do also want to ensure that we have consultation with fans to make sure that it is not just us that are sitting in a room thinking this is what is good for everyone around us, actually to ensure we are on the right path."
