Quote: Mrs Barista "I agree the council have little appetite to run the stadium, they set up the SMC in the first place to have a cost-neutral third party custodian, foregoing a share of the income generated for the avoidance of cost and hassle of running it themselves. They found a reasonable partner in AP, but didn't future-proof the arrangement. The deal looks like it's similar to the one they struck with Hull KR when they repurchased the freehold of New Craven Park to allow Rovers to avoid folding, then set up a peppercorn lease with Gaingroup who sublet to Rovers. I'm not sure of the split of cost ownership between Gaingroup (now KCD) and Hull KR, but KR get all the stadium revenue and pay for maintenance, stewarding etc. Essentially it looks like all the clubs are rent free, courtesy of the council? It would seem that costs at the KC are broadly allocated on gate receipts - you have, what, double our gates, twice as many fixtures and charge 50% more, roughly an uplift of x6'"
the deal is also similar to Swansea City's which has been criticised by the EU. If the lease was terminated by the Council any future lease would have to be profitable. However its probable the Allams would want to pay the same rent as Hull FC for use of the stadium. If you rent office space you'd expect to pay the same price per square foot as the other tenants unless you got extras in the tenancy. The rent wouldn't be dependant on how much profit you made.
