Manchester City are to reduce the capacity of the Etihad Stadium by around 1,100 to fit new electronic advertising hoardings.
The Blues are to take out some of the front rows of seats around the ground to accommodate a second tier of LED screens which will give the illusion of doubling the height of the display, a system already in use at Wolves.
Up to three rows of seats in the North, East and South Stands will be removed, which should reduce the capacity to around 54,000 – but there are already draft plans to expand the North Stand to increase capacity to 60,000.
The club has already contacted affected seasoncard holders and offered alternative seats elsewhere in the stadium for the same price, even if the new seats are in a more expensive section.
The new signs are expected to generate more revenue from partnership and sponsorship deals and is part of an ongoing upgrade of the stadium after the expansion of the South Stand, a new public address system and the Ardwick pub built inside the ground.
The club says the enhanced signage will not impact sight-lines at all but will appear to be twice the height of the previous signs when viewed from a distance.
The club said in a statement: “As part of Manchester City’s ongoing development works to enhance the Etihad Stadium a second row of digital signage will be installed in the lower stadium bowl. Regrettably, a small percentage of seats allocated to both seasoncard holders and supporters who purchase on match by match basis will be removed.
“Impacted seasoncard holders were contacted in December 2020 and informed that they will be given relocation priority ahead the 2021/22 season.
“Seasoncard holders who relocate will pay no more than their 2019/20 seasoncard price next season, irrespective of where their new seat is located.”
