Tom Wagner divulged some more details around the vision for the Birmingham City Sports Quarter at Wednesday evening’s Open House
Birmingham City chairman Tom Wagner
Tom Wagner has confirmed naming rights for Birmingham City’s new stadium ‘will go to the highest bidder’.
Blues hope to move into a new 62,000-seater stadium in the Sports Quarter in 2030 after the appointment of US-based architects MANICA and British designers Heatherwick Studio.
Wagner and head of infrastructure Nick Smith teased Sports Quarter details at the Open House event on Wednesday evening and provided a timeline for upcoming announcements.
The design of the stadium, which has only been seen by insiders thus far, is expected to be unveiled to the public next month before the planning application is formally submitted to the council.
Knighthead plan for the stadium and centrepiece of the Sports Quarter to be visible from miles away and envisage no push-back from the council having maintained dialogue since before proposals were made public in April 2024.
One thing that won’t be decided for a while yet is the name of the new stadium.
Tottenham Hotspur still haven’t given their iconic stadium a name, instead going by the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, whereas Everton’s new ground Hill Dickinson Stadium bags the club a reported £10 million per year from the Liverpool-based law firm.
Wagner has made it clear that Blues will be making money from the name of their new home.
“It will have a name and it will go to the highest bidder,” the American insists.
Blues’ powerbrokers are keen to take some of the club’s history to the Sports Quarter, hence why Bluenose and Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is part of the design team.
They are also hell-bent on making it feel like a football stadium – even if a large chunk of the cash it brings in will come from non-football events.
It is no secret that Knighthead want to attract other sporting events, including NFL matches, and big name concerts to the Second City.
Smith stressed: “A multi-purpose stadium is going to be key because we’ll probably run as many events as we play football games in this stadium.
“But it’s football first. The lens of football in designing this stadium is key. You always start with the field of play, our pitch – 105m by 68m – was the key starting point.
“If we’re going to have the Challenge Cup here for Rugby League, we’ve built in some flexibility so the seats can retract, but for football it’s as tight as regulations will allow us to be.”
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